Ransom
by TheImaginativeFox
Summary: When a new crime boss tries to take control of Gotham, the first thing they need to do is take out the two big threats: Bruce Wayne and Batman. No, this person doesn't want to kill them, this person wants to use them. Break them. So when Richard Grayson is Kidnapped, the only way to get him back is to pay the ransom: Robin. The only question is how?
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome to the first chapter of the story! I've had this idea for a while, but I finally decided to write it up. It's a bit slow towards the beginning, but I promise it's going to pick up in the next few chapters. Enjoy the story, and don't forget to tell me what you think :)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

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The high pitched beep of his alarm clock startled Dick into consciousness. He rolled over and turned it off, squinting a little at the bright light coming from the phone. As soon as the beeping stopped, he pulled the covers over his head, curling into a ball and closing his eyes for what felt like a few seconds. He realized he had fallen back asleep for about thirty when Alfred was knocking on his door, telling him something about being late if he didn't hurry.

He gave a grumbled reply and got out of bed, turning on his light as he started getting ready for school.

When he finished, he checked his phone to see how much time he had: four minutes. He frantically ran down the stair, pulling his blazer on as he went. He skidded to a stop before entering the kitchen, calmly entering the room as if he hadn't just broken the "no running in the house" rule.

"You know, Dick, I don't see the point in setting your alarm if you're not going to bother waking up when it goes off." Bruce commented from behind his newspaper.

"I get up," Dick defended, pouring himself some cereal. "Sometimes."

"Uh-huh," Bruce said, leaving Dick to inhale his breakfast.

"Slow down, Master Dick." Alfred scolded.

"Sorry, Alfie." Dick apologized, even though his breakfast had already disappeared.

"Are you ready for school?" Alfred asked, clearing the table as he did.

"Yeah, I'll go get my bag." Dick slid off his stool and headed towards his room. When he came back down, Alfred was handing Bruce a travel mug of coffee.

"Have a good day at school, Dick." Bruce said before he walked out the door and towards his car.

"Bye, Bruce," Dick waved.

"Are you ready, Sir?" Alfred asked.

"Uh-huh," Dick nodded and followed Alfred out of the house and into the car.

.oOo.

Dick said goodbye to Alfred as he hopped out of the car. He walked through the gates and into the building, keeping an eye out for Barbara as he walked in the general direction of his locker. He found the red head waiting by his locker, and by the looks of it, she had already made a stop at her own.

"Hey Babs," he greeted as he walked up to her, trying and failing to hide a yawn.

"Hey, Dick," Barbara smiled, moving a little to the side so Dick could get at his locker. "Long night?"

"You have no idea," Dick replied lightly, putting his lunch and unneeded textbooks in the locker before shutting it.

"Yeah, same here. After I got home from practice, I waited up for my dad." she mentioned.

"Any particular reason why?" Dick asked, smirking.

"He was talking to Batman about a case I was interested in." Barbara shrugged.

"Sure, it was the case, not the fact that your dad was talking to Batman." Dick said, rolling his eyes dramatically.

"Shut up," Barbra punched him in the arm playfully. "Like you're any better."

The two of them would talk about Batman and Robin every so often; everyone in Gotham did. And it happened that they both wanted to meet the Dynamic Duo, especially Batman. After all, for two nerds who liked reading and solving mysteries, meeting the World's Greatest Detective would be pretty cool.

"You're just upset because your dad hasn't introduced you yet. And you're still jealous that I already met him." Dick pointed out, remembering the time Penguin had tried to burn down a theatre that his class was seeing a play at. Batman had been close behind and ended up getting Dick (who had actually been helping others evacuate) and a few other students out.

"I already told you," Babs started, retuning the smirk, "it doesn't count; you were unconscious."

"If it makes you happy, we won't count it. But I'll still meet him before you do, he'll probably' even let me ride in the Batmobile." Dick mused.

"Whatever you say," she said in a patronizing manner. "Come on, we should get to class."

"So does that mean you admit defeat?" Dick asked.

"Watch it, Grayson," she warned in a serious tone, but he saw the ghost of a smile cross her lips as she brushed passed him.

"See you at lunch," Dick called, completely ignoring the threat as he walked off to his biology class.

.oOo.

Dick swerved through the crowded hall packed with students, trying to make his way to the cafeteria without being run into. He had almost succeeded, too.

Someone bumped into him, causing Dick to stumble and drop a few of his papers. "Oh, I'm sorry," someone said behind a stack of boxes.

"It's fine," Dick brushed it off and bent down to collect his papers, happily surprised when the man set the boxes down to help him.

"Here you go," someone wearing a nurse's uniform said as he passed over the papers, prompting a quick "thanks" from Dick. "Richard Grayson, right?" the man asked as they both stood up.

"Yeah, that's me." He smiled, counting his papers to make sure he still had all of his notes. "I haven't seen you around before, are you new?"

"You can call me Peter, I'm substituting for Nurse Linda." Peter explained, shaking Dick's hand in greeting.

"Nice to meet you." Dick had been to the nurse's office plenty of times, usually with some excuse to get him out of class so Robin could make an appearance, but a few times he had actually been sick. She was nice enough sometimes a challenge to convince that he was sick, though. "So is she sick or something?"

"Yeah, but she'll be fine. I have to get back, thanks for the help, and have a good day," he waved, and Dick headed towards the cafeteria again.

"Richard," the voice of Ms. Albert's—the meanest teacher in the entire school—called. Dick internally sighed. He had just gotten out of her class, why would she be looking for him?

"Hi," he smiled politely. "Was there something you needed?"

"Is this yours?" Ms. Alberts asked, holding out his lunch bag to him. Dick had grabbed it before her class so he could go straight to lunch without having to backtrack to his locker.

"Oh, yeah it's mine," he replied, taking it from her. He must've left it in her classroom. Man, he really was tired today.

"Another student saw you had left it and brought it to my desk." She explained.

"Thanks for bringing it to me," he said, and she nodded before walking into the teacher's lounge.

Finally, Dick entered the cafeteria. He walked towards their normal table, feeling a little guilty when he saw she was almost finished with her lunch and was reading a book.

"Hey," Dick greeted, taking a seat across from Babs.

"Nice of you to join me," she replied, setting down her book. "What took you?"

"Some nurse ran into me in the hall and I dropped my notes, and then Ms. Alberts brought me my lunch that I accidently left in her class." Dick explained, taking out his lunch and beginning to eat it hungrily as Barbara made some comment about their teacher.

"We should do something this weekend. My dad won't be home, but we could go to your place or go to the mall," Barbara suggested.

"Sounds fun, but—"

"But you're busy, so maybe next week," she finished in a bored tone.

"Yeah, I have something Saturday morning." he shrugged apologetically. "I don't know when I'll be back, but I bet we could hang out in the evening."

"Just call me, so I can make other plans," Barbara told him.

"Good to know I'm so replaceable." Dick muttered, pushing his food around, suddenly not very hungry.

"Well, now you know," Babs teased, then tilted her head in a questioning way. "You feeling okay?"

"Fine, just feel kinda weird all of a sudden." Dick answered.

"Maybe you're coming down with that bug that's going around," she said. It was that time of year where everyone was getting sick, and there was a virus that was going around, but wasn't there always?

"Maybe," he pondered, but something was telling him there was more to it than that. He gave up on eating and breasted his head and his arms.

Barbara reached over to feel his forehead. "You're not feverish, just a little warm. But if you don't feel good, maybe you should go home."

"I don't need to go home," came the mumbled response, but that was exactly what he wanted to do.

"If you say so," Barbara shrugged. "Just don't get me sick."

Dick gave a small laugh. "I'll try my best."

They were quiet again, Barbara going back to her book and Dick tried to distract himself by focusing on his breathing. It seemed to be working, but then his stomach lurched violently. Dick instinctively slapped his hand over his mouth and ran to find a bathroom, Babs right behind him.

He didn't make it to a bathroom, but he was lucky enough to find a trash can just outside the cafeteria. He heaved into it, sweating and shaking as he did. Barbara started rubbing his back in a soothing, circular motion. He spat a few times to try to get the rest of the vomit out of his mouth before sliding down a wall and onto the floor.

"Not sick, huh?" she asked, sitting next to him and letting him lean against her.

"I don't feel good," he said, clutching his stomach a little tighter.

"Was it something you ate?" she asked, concern laced in her voice, knowing that wasn't the problem the second the words left her lips.

"No, maybe, I don't know. My stomach really hurts, and so does my head," he mumbled, as the pain only increased and he felt like he would pass out.

"Come on, let's get you to the nurse," she said, helping him stand up and continuing to support him as they made their way down the hall.

"Barbara," Dick suddenly stopped and grabbed her arm. Moving was a bad idea. A very bad idea.

"What's wrong?" she looked him over, trying to decide if he would need a trash can.

"Something's wrong," he told her just before he slumped in her hold and his eyes started to close.

"Dick? What's wrong?" she practically yelled, her reflexes catching him before he could fall to the ground. "Talk to me!"

.

.

.

Dick woke up confused to find himself on a medical bed.

"What happened?" Peter asked, but the question was directed at Barbara, seeing as Dick wasn't coherent enough to answer for himself.

"I'm not really sure. He wasn't feeling well at lunch and then he threw up," she started. "I was helping him to the nurse's office when he said something was wrong and then he passed out."

Peter nodded and started to do a quick examination. "I can take it from here, miss; you can head back to lunch now."

"He's going to be okay, right?" she asked tentatively, trying to get a better look at Dick who was currently throwing up into a bucket the nurse had given him.

"I'm sure he'll be fine. It's probably his appendix, so I'm going to call an ambulance," he told her.

"I can stay with him until the ambulance gets here." Barbara offered as Dick curled up on his side.

"No, just leave it to me," Peter said firmly, and started to usher her out the door. She gave Dick one last glance before leaving.

The pain grew worse by the second, and soon Dick couldn't hold back the moans as he started shaking. Why didn't he ask for Barbara to stay?

"Hurts," Dick hissed.

"Calm down, kid," he started. "Your ride's almost here,"

Soon, another man walked into the room pushing a gurney, and Dick was placed onto it and then wheeled out of the building. He was put in the ambulance, a little surprised when the substitute nurse took a seat.

"Told you it would work," the new man said as the ambulance pulled away, and suddenly Dick was feeling more awake. "No one even questioned it."

Oh god, this wasn't happening.

"Fine, you were right." Peter agreed. "He keeps fighting the drug, shouldn't he be passed out by now?"

Drugs?

"I don't know. How much did you give him, anyway?" the new man questioned.

Dick didn't know, but he knew he didn't want any more. He started to fight against the gurney's restraints, but didn't have much luck.

"I don't know. Think I should give him another dose?" Peter—or whatever his real name was—asked.

No!

"Sure, but maybe a half dose. And do an injection this time instead; it probably works better, not to mention faster." the man driving the most likely stolen ambulance said.

Dick finally found his voice and started screaming at the top of his lungs, praying for someone to hear him.

"Do it fast and shut him up," the driver yelled, and next thing he knew, there was a wad of cotton in his mouth.

Once the cotton-gag was secured with medical tape, the man started looking around the ambulance for something. Dick's eyes went wide and he started to struggle even more when the guy came back with a syringe. His struggles didn't do much, and he felt the prick of the needle before burning liquid ran through his veins. Not a second later, and he let out a muffled scream of pain. He was breathing fast, and the corners of his vision were going black. He felt himself falling into oblivion with one thought: he was going to die.

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**What did you think? Too slow? Not exciting enough? Did you know what as happening right away? And how about that cliffhanger? Thanks for reading, I really appreciate it!**

**Until next time**

**-TheImaginativeFox**

**(Don't forget to review/follow/favorite) **


	2. Chapter 2

**Welcome back! A quick thanks to all of for all the views, follows, favorites, and reviews!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except the idea for the story **

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Barbara understood why she had to leave the room; she would just get in the way. She knew it was probably some school policy or that the nurse was worried she would get squeamish or whatever, but that still didn't shake the feeling that she was abandoning her best friend. And that she shouldn't be abandoning her best friend. It was because of that feeling that she didn't go back to the cafeteria right away, like she had been instructed.

Instead, she waited until she could hear the sirens approach the school, and then got out of the way and watched as a man pushing a gurney ran into the nurse's office. She couldn't make out what they were saying, but soon Dick was on the gurney and being pushed out of the building. Feeling a little more relieved that he was now on his way to a hospital and Bruce would be with him soon, she went back to the cafeteria.

On the way there, Barbara debated whether or not it was worth it to try to get out of school early. She did have a test to take after lunch, but it wouldn't be hard to arrange to take it at a different time. She wondered if her dad could pick her up, or if she could make her way to the hospital and wait there until she got an update about Dick and maybe get to see him. But then again, maybe Bruce would want to be alone with Dick, and he probably wouldn't be up for visitors if he ended up needing surgery . . .

Weighing her options over again, she sat down at her table and pulled out a book to read. She started to notice how many people were staring at her and beginning to whisper to one another. Barbra didn't have to hear what they were saying to know it was about Dick, or rather the lack of Dick. She hated being stared at.

Letting out a small sigh, she grabbed her bag and walked out of the building and into the courtyard, planning to stay there until the bell rang.

Barbara sat down on one of the benches under a tree and started to read her book again. It wasn't long before she heard footsteps and then someone calling her name, "Hey, Barbara?"

"Yeah, Bette?" she replied, a slight annoyance to her voice. Looking up, she saw the new girl—Artemis?—was with her.

"This is Artemis," Bette continued, giving the girl a small push forward.

"Hi," Artemis waved, looking a bit uncomfortable but not exactly shy.

"Hi," Barbara greeted, a little curious as to what the two wanted.

"Anyway, we were talking, and Artemis wanted to know something, so we suggested that she just talk to you about it." Bette explained, and Barbara tilted her head a little, signifying for them to continue. "Go ahead, Artemis."

"Uh, so you hang out with Richard Grayson, right?" Artemis started, fidgeting with the bottom of her jacket.

"Yeah, and?" Barbara didn't really want to have this conversation. She didn't like talking about Dick and his absences. It tended to create even more rumors, and that was the last thing Dick needed to deal with right now.

"I just wanted to know if he was okay," Artemis offered. "He seemed fine this morning, and then all of a sudden he was running out of the cafeteria. Some people are saying they heard an ambulance?"

"Yeah, they're taking him to the hospital." Barbara answered, trying to sound calm.

"Do you know if he's okay?" Artemis asked. "I mean, I know he obviously wasn't if they had to take him to the hospital, but did they have any idea what was wrong?"

"They didn't really tell me anything," Barbara replied. "But, yeah, I think he'll be alright."

They all looked back towards the school building at the sound of the bell.

"Well, if you see him, tell him we hope he's feeling better." Artemis said, a sound of uncertainty in her voice, as if she didn't really believe Barbara's answer. But then again, Barbara wasn't too sure herself.

"I'll pass along the message," Barbara agreed, and then the two of them walked off, leaving Barbara to pack up her things before heading to class. Man, she couldn't wait for school to be over.

.oOo.

"Mr. Wayne?" he looked up as his secretary opened the door to his office and poked her head in.

"What is it?" he asked her, looking up from the papers he had been going over.

"Gotham Academy is on the phone" she answered.

"Of course," Bruce replied, trying to stay calm as worry threatened to wash over him. "I'll take it in here."

"Right, I'll put it through on the first line," she answered, receiving a quick nod from Bruce before closing the door.

"Hello?" he spoke into the pone in a steady voice.

"Ah, Mr. Wayne," he recognized the man on the other end as the principle, Mr. Elliot.

"Is something wrong with Dick?" he questioned. He normally didn't get calls from the school unexpectedly, so he knew something was wrong. He just didn't know whether he should be angry or worried or both.

"Yes, he wasn't feeling well, and Ms. Gordon had to help him to the nurse's office. After giving him a short examination, we needed to call an ambulance." Mr. Elliot answered.

"Oh god, what happened?" Bruce asked quickly, gathering up some things from his office into his briefcase, getting ready to head to his car the second he found out which hospital Dick was going to.

"I don't have much information on the subject; Nurse Peter went with the paramedics to help explain what was going on," Mr. Elliot explained. "He thought it was appendicitis, but wasn't completely sure."

"Which hospital?" Bruce asked urgently, practically running from his office, all without any explanation to his confused secretary.

"Gotham General," he replied.

"Okay, I'm on my way. Thank you for calling," and Bruce hung up.

Bruce yanked his car door open and threw his briefcase into it. He sat down and started the ignition, driving off just a little too fast as he clicked his seatbelt. He pulled out his phone and pushed speed dial without having to look at it, and soon Alfred's voice was on the line.

"Alfred, you need to meet me at Gotham General, something's wrong with Dick. They think it might be appendicitis, but they aren't completely sure."

"Oh dear, I do hope the young las is alright." Alfred fretted. "Are you there now?"

"Almost," Bruce answered, making another turn.

"Then I shall meet you there," and the two hung up.

Bruce continued to drive for another few minutes before he turned into the parking lot. He took the first spot he saw and ran across the parking lot and into the hospital. He quickly found the ER and ran up to the front desk to speak with the receptionist.

"Hello, how can I help you?" she asked warmly.

"I'm looking for Richard Grayson? I was contacted by his school that they called an ambulance," Bruce explained to the lady.

"Of course," she nodded, starting to type something into the computer. "What's the name of the school?"

"Gotham Academy." Bruce answered, how many schools were asking for ambulances anyways?

"Right," she nodded again. "I have him in here, but the ambulance hasn't returned yet," Bruce gave her a worried look, so she continued. "I'm sure everything's fine, they might have stabilized him before leaving."

"Okay, you're probably right," Bruce said, although didn't feel relieved at all. "Do you know when they will be here?"

"I promise that we will do our best, Mr. Wayne." she told him. "Now, I just need you to fill out his paperwork about his basic information, medical history, any known allergies and medications he's currently taking and then bring it back up here to me."

"Right," Bruce agreed, taking the offered clipboard and pen and walking towards the chairs to begin filling it out.

The room was filled with people, some moaning in pain, others worrying about those they were there for. The news was on in the background, but only a few people were actually watching it, and mostly as a distraction. Occasionally, you would hear the receptionist calling out patients' names to come up to be seen, and a few others to get information on their loved ones.

It wasn't very long until he walked up to drop off the paperwork, and hopefully get some word on Dick. It wasn't easy to try to stay calm in situations like these, especially when he didn't know what was wrong. Usually when Dick was hurt, he was right there with him, or at least knew what was happening when he found out. Bruce was used to having control over situations like this, and was not fond to losing that control and being put in the dark. It was nerve-wracking, and it was something he hoped wouldn't have to happen again anytime soon.

"All finished, Mr. Wayne?" she asked.

"Yes, is that everything, miss?" he asked, looking for a name tag.

"Grace. You can call me Grace," Grace smiled at him.

"Will there be anything else then, Grace?" he asked, trying to return a small smile.

"That's everything, we'll call you up when we know a little more," she told him.

"Do you know anything now?" Bruce couldn't help but ask.

"I'm sorry, I still don't know anything," Grace replied apologetically.

He nodded and went back to his seat. A few minutes later Alfred showed up, asking the same questions Bruce had asked the receptionist. And Bruce had to give him the same answers. The two sat in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Or they were until the news caught their attention.

"It has just been reported that an ambulance crashed, and three people have gone missing: Ian Baily, Peter Mason, and Richard Grayson." The news reporter started, a picture of the crashed vehicle in the top right corner of the screen. "Those still remaining in the ambulance seem to be alright with minimum damage, we're going there live."

_Wait, what names did they say? Because it would be impossible for that to be Dick's ambulance, right?_

The screen switched to a scene were an ambulance looked like it had fallen in a ditch, slightly tilted sideways, but not too much. Two paramedics were standing there, seeming a little confused as they were being interviewed.

"Here we are with two of the paramedics, Frank Mitchell and Derrick Shields, who were on the ambulance during the crash. Can you tell us what happened?" the reporter, Vicki Vale, asked.

"Um, well there were three of us. We got a call to head over to Gotham Academy to get one of the students, Richard Grayson, to the hospital," Frank said.

Bruce's eyes went wide. That was his son's ambulance! Where was he now? Was he okay?

"We didn't know much about the situation," Derrick started. "But we don't always know a lot before we arrive at the scene. We just got into the ambulance and drove off. We got to the school, and we were starting to gather up some supplies when Ian started yelling that someone was trying to get in the ambulance, and before we could do anything, the car filled with knock-out gas."

"Did you see who did it?" Vicki asked.

"Not really, we didn't come to until the ambulance crashed," Derrick answered. "By the time we came around, everyone was gone, but then we saw this guy neither of us recognized getting into a van and then driving off before we could get out of the ambulance."

"And do you think the kidnapper was working with someone?" Vicki continued to question, but Bruce tuned out, letting it sink in.

At the word kidnapper, Bruce's brain went into overdrive, and he quickly got up from his seat and started for the front desk, Alfred right behind him. Sure, Dick had been kidnapped before, but not like this. The kid was taken form an ambulance! Had this all been planned? Or were they just taking advantage of the situation? And what if something was seriously wrong with Dick and he needed medical attention?

All of these thoughts whirled around his head as he walked up to the woman and asked one question, "Where's my son?"

* * *

**Not very happy with this chapter. Some things I like, and others not so much, thoughts? Was Bruce finding out what happened over the news a good idea, or would you have preferred he had found out some other way? Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated :)**

**Special thanks to: Mickey's Girl, Keys is Lazy (guest), AStudyinEsmeWho, Bethisafan77 , PenguinLover28 (guest), The Shadow Keeper, KIMIR (guest), CounterGVD, Dark Sides, Turtles18, XxTheDeadlyBlackxX, AStudyinEsmeWho, AltoValGal, Immortalis Cruor Elf, Akari Tatsumi,** **PhantomGirl1223**,** BATMANMELTSI, HonourProject,** **deadlydaisy8o8,** **supernaturalroxs,** **A Small Voice,** **DuskMuse711,** **FateTestarossaH, JustWhelmed, Mireilles3, Nanna.M, NuclearRogue, Sora Moto, cupcakejenny, kuroihana16, Anonymous-Nerds-Unite, Fareway, Robin Powers, DepartingSorrows, mappyTS404, Chimpchar, and shycartoonlover for the reviews, follows, and/or favorites, I really appreciate it!**

**Replies:**

**Keys is Lazy: Thanks! Glad you liked it, I'll try to get the next chapter up soon :)**

**PenguinLover28: Thanks! I hope you like we're I take this story :)**

**KIMIR: Thanks, I'm glad I've gained your interest :)**

**Until next time**

**-TheImaginativeFox**

**(Thanks again, I'm really happy you guys are liking it so far, and it hasn't even gotten to the good part yet)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, except for a really bad headache, but I'd be willing to give it away if anyone wants it**

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"You know what to do." the disguised voice they knew as their boss said through the phone.

"Right," the one, Miles Blake, answered.

"We'll call you when we're ready for the next step." the second, Kyle Read, replied.

"Good." the voice, also known as Q, agreed. "Don't harm the boy too much until you receive further instruction, understood?"

"Understood, Q." Kyle agreed.

"We'll be in touch." and the voice was gone, and Kyle and Miles were left to perform their tasks.

It was supposed to be an easy job. The two of them had gotten the job from a new crime-boss who was just starting to make themselves known in Gotham. They had heard stories about the newcomer, but had never actually met the person. No one really had. The information on the job would be given to you through some other party or message. This person was clearly the untrusting type, or at least until it was decided if he or she would keep you and ask you to join in on their plans.

The job was going to have to be done from the inside, so they took their positions: Miles would have to work as a substitute school nurse under the alias Peter Mason, he also had to give some of the poisoning to the actual nurse so she would call in sick. Kyle would have to be transport, so he got a job as an EMT under the alias Ian Bailey.

They weren't supposed to give themselves away when they did this either. Or at least not at first. If they could manage it, they should try to make it seem like they were taken along with the kid, and not actually responsible for it. The police would probably be able to figure out that Peter Mason and Ian Bailey didn't really exist, but first they would have to look for people who didn't exist, and that would buy them time. So by the time they eventually did find out, Q's plan would have already begun.

On the day of the operation, they were given this new drug that their boss had invented. It was a pain-inducer of sorts, and then they were given some light poison to kick-start it (the same that Miles gave to the real school nurse). It wasn't very strong, but it was enough to make someone have symptoms of a stomach bug. With the pain-inducer, it would kick it up a notch by making that person more sensitive to pain and making it look worse than just a stomach bug.

Getting the poisoning into the kid's system was nothing. It was crowded, and Miles managed to get the kid to drop his lunch. So, he easily opened it and poured a little bit into the food. Then he waited and made sure another student picked it up when they stopped by the lockers. The student walked back into the classroom he had come out of, which also happened to be the one Grayson was in previously, and brought it to the teacher. Then the teacher saw Grayson, and returned it to him. Now Miles just had to get the pain-inducer into him. It just needed skin contact for it to start working. And after talking with Richard for a while, he made sure it had started working, and then went back to the office to wait for the rest to take care of itself.

When Richard Grayson came to the office, he looked worse than expected, and a girl was practically dragging him in. It actually looked reasonable for him to need an ambulance, and he just gave the girl a story of appendicitis. After she left, he called an ambulance, and told the principal what was going on and that he would go with Richard to explain what happened to the paramedics.

When the Kyle got the call about Gotham Academy needing an ambulance, he got into action. He got into an ambulance with two other paramedics and drove off. When they got there, he pretended to see someone getting into the ambulance, and then released some knock-out gas before hiding them in the front. Then Kyle went to get the kid and his partner, and now they just had to get to the base. Simple.

"Told you it would work," Kyle said, taking off his uniform and showing his clothes he had put under it that morning. "No one even questioned it."

"Fine, you were right." Miles agreed, the conversation seeming to gain Richard's attention. With the dose of the pain inducer that they gave the kid, Miles was pretty sure he should be unconscious right now. "He keeps fighting the drug, shouldn't he be passed out by now?"

"I don't know. How much did you give him, anyway?" Kyle questioned.

"I don't know, think I should give him another dose?" Miles asked.

"Sure, but maybe a half dose. And do an injection this time instead, it probably works better, not to mention faster." Kyle said.

"Okay," Miles shrugged, and looked in his bag for the injection for of the pain inducer. Depending on the dose, it could just cause a lot of pain and make someone really out of it, but in higher doses, it could actually cause them to pass out. He guessed the does the kid was given earlier was somewhere in between. Pulling out the needle, Richard's eyes went wide. When it was injected, it only took a few moments for the kid to give out another cry of pain. In about a minute, he was out.

"He's out." Miles confirmed a few seconds later. "What about the paramedics?"

"It seems like it, but it looks like the chloroform is wearing off." Kyle replied. Then a few moments later, "There's the van, let's move the kid."

.oOo.

Kyle and Miles sat in the dark, cold room. They were bored as they kept guard, since they didn't have much to do except wait for the kid to wake up. He had been out longer than they had expected, and was currently lying unconscious on the floor. The kid was bound at the wrists and ankles, his hair was disheveled, and he was pale. Occasionally he would shiver or moan, but he wouldn't really wake up to the point that he was aware of his surroundings.

"Maybe you did give him too much," Kyle said.

"Don't know, but I doubt it," Miles said, or at least he hoped he didn't. "How old is he anyway?" Miles wondered out loud, looking at the kid questioningly. He looked around the same age as his daughter, which didn't really help the situation as she was only eleven.

"Thirteen," Kyle recited. "But he looks younger than that, don't you think?"

"He's small, that's for sure. At least he'll be easy to keep under control," Miles commented.

"Yeah, just imagine if he was as muscular as Wayne," Kyle said.

"Think he even misses the kid yet?" Miles asked.

"The school probably called to tell him Grayson was at least sick by now," Kyle started. "The news already knows that three people have gone missing, so he probably knows little Richard's been kidnapped."

"So why haven't we made a ransom call yet?" Miles questioned impatiently.

"I don't even know what the ransom is, and I heard that this is about more than just some ransom, maybe Q has something against Wayne and there won't even be a ransom," Kyle shrugged.

"Maybe, I heard something about getting a permanent position with Q if we can prove ourselves useful. Do you know what that was about?" Miles asked. He was new to this kind of work, and wasn't really sure how you got a stable position for stuff like this, it's not like they were going to become mercenaries, or at least he wasn't planning to.

"Something big. I guess if they're hiring people for secure spots they're having us do some other jobs like this first," Kyle replied. They stopped talking again, and looked over at the kid. He hadn't moved in a while, and it seemed as if he had gotten even quieter.

"Think we should try to wake him up?" Miles offered.

"He's probably fine, but if you want to, go ahead, just make sure he's restrained enough first." Kyle warned, not wanting the kid to make a run for it. He had done a few small kidnappings before, nothing big, just a few kids whose parents weren't motivated enough to do their job. With that experience, he learned that kids can be pretty smart when they have to. They would look like they had been unconscious, while they were working on getting themselves lose, then when he went to check on them, they would make a run for it.

"Right," Miles agreed, then stood up and walked towards Richard.

He checked the bindings, and tightened them a little bit as a precaution, even though they appeared untouched. The kid was breathing, but it was slightly labored, and his pulse was slow. He felt warm to the touch, maybe the poisoning he put in his food was still in his system. That might explain why he was still out, or maybe they gave him too much chloroform.

"Hey, kid," Miles shook Richard's shoulder, receiving a small, gagged moan in response. "You okay?" Miles shook him harder, and the kid squeezed his eyes tighter. Miles let out a small, barely audible sigh and put the kid into a sitting position and lightly tapped the side of his face. "You with us?"

Dick's eyes shot open as simultaneously he tried to lurch forward. Miles, not knowing what was going on, pushed him back and tried to keep him still. That was when he heard the retching noise, and so did Kyle.

"I think he's puking, get the gag off him before he chokes!" Kyle yelled, but Miles was already on it, and soon the kid was on all fours puking his guts out. Once he got everything out, he started dry heaving, as he fought to inhale some air. Soon, Grayson leaned back against the wall, unaware of what was going on, and started panting.

.oOo.

Dick picked his head up after he caught his breath. He looked around, before it all clicked. He quickly tried to scramble to his feet, only for someone to tackle him back to the ground. "Where am I?" Dick demanded, trying to shake the man off him.

"Easy, kid," the man warned.

"Gag him again, and calm down, Grayson, or we'll have to make you," a second man threatened.

"Wait," Dick continued to struggle, pushing the hand away and trying to buy some time. "Who are you? What do you want?"

"That's for us to know, and you to find out," the second man told him, gesturing for the first to continue to gag him. Dick didn't really put up much of a fight this time, knowing it was inevitable at this point. Instead he tried to gather his thoughts on how he ended up in this situation, but found them to be a little fuzzy.

"So I guess we should call the boss now?" the first man asked.

The second man nodded and pulled out a phone, dialing a number. He gave a greeting, and then it was silent for a while before he spoke again. "Yeah, the kid's awake, what should we do with him?" silence followed as the person (their boss?) spoke. "No, he's not struggling, he probably knows what's going on now," more silence. "Really? So that's what this was about." Silence again until, "No, he's fine. He threw up when he woke up, though, but he looks okay now." More silence, and then a look of surprise followed by a smirk, "Yeah, I'm sure we can handle that." came his response. "Perfect, we'll call you when we're done."

"What did the boss say?" the first man asked, interested about their conversation.

"The boss wants us to make the ransom video now," the second man started. "Said we need to rough him up a bit to get some more attention."

"I thought we weren't supposed to hurt him?" the first man questioned.

"Q said it needed to look more frequent when we did it, and the boss wasn't sure how long the drug would keep him out." the second man stated.

_So I was drugged, but with what?_

"I guess that makes sense," the first man said quietly, but sounded a little hesitant.

Dick didn't understand that, hadn't he been the one who hit him in the first place? Now that he thought about it, this guy was probably the one who drugged him.

"I'll grab some stuff and find a camera," the second man said, pushing himself out of the chair and walking round a corner to begin rummaging through some things they had brought with him.

"Are we sending it to him, or to Q first?" the first man asked.

Dick was currently still trying to figure out who these people were, and if he could find an escape quickly enough to get out of here. The two of them didn't seem very concerned with him at the moment, and were basically ignoring him.

"We're not sending it to Wayne, we're going to broadcast it over the news. You said you were good with computers, right?" the second man checked, receiving a nod.

_Wait, if I've been kidnapped, why wouldn't they just send it to Bruce?_

"Yeah, but why over the news?" the first man wondered.

"We're trying to get someone's attention," the second said. "It has to do with the ransom,"

"And what is the ransom?" the first asked.

The second smirked. "Robin."

Dick's eyes went wide. No wonder they were going to beat him up and broadcast it. They were trying to get attention from Batman and Robin, not just Bruce. And better yet, Robin was the price for his return. Just one problem: how was he supposed to pay his own ransom?

* * *

**So thoughts? Questions? Comments? Concerns? I would love to hear them and any ideas or creative criticism you might have, I could really use some tips. Did you like my portrayal of the charters? We'll be getting more into Dick's charter and some other main characters in the next few chapters to come, so don't worry about that. Sorry if he seemed a bit OOC, I purposefully made him like that to show some side effects of the drugs they used on him, but if it was too much, please let me know so I can work on it for the rest of this story. So how is he going to get out of this one? Any thoughts? I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and if you didn't, I apologize and can only hope I can do better in the future. Don't forget to follow, favorite, and review! They really make my day so much better :)**

**Special**** thanks to: ruthrod97, flamelily274, Whirling**, **Miss Singing in the Rain, MarissaKeye, Gemini Genim, xQueenxOfxNerds, allen niichan, Pottergirl3333, KAW9anime, Percy James Frost, Hazel-theTheatreGeek, Savy160 (writes some great stories, too, so you should check them out!), amyanime4, doggy bye, 3710rice, OnceUponASunsetDream, jamiefin, Mickey's Girl, PenguinLover28 (guest), Guest (guest) , Bethisafan77, The Shadow Keeper (and thanks for the wonderful conversation so far), and Turtles18 for the follows, favorites, and reviews, I appreciate every single one of them!  
**

**PenguinLover28 (guest): I'm so glad you're enjoying it so far, it's a relief to hear you say that. And don't hesitate to share when an idea comes your way, even the crazy ones!**

**Guest (guest): Thanks, glad you liked it, and I'll continue as long as people are enjoying this :)**

**Thanks**** again for reading this, and don't forget to let me know what you think, whether that's through a PM or a review! I hope you all have a great Halloween, and if you don't do Halloween, have a great Friday! So, are you doing anything for Halloween? Dressing up? If you are, what are you going to be? I have no clue, and it's tomorrow, but I'll throw something together. I think I'm going to go trick or treating, because who would pass up free candy? And then watch some scary movies. Any ideas on what I should go as? I have this whole sob story about what I was going to be and how it didn't work out, so now I'm going to have to think of something else.**

**Bye! Until next time**

**-TheImaginativeFox**

**(reviews motivate and make me happy)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's the new chapter. So this deals with more of the internal reactions to what's going on, rather than showing what action is taken as a result of it. I don't really think this came together as nicely as I would've liked it to, but I haven't updated in forever and really want to get this out, so bear with me.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, and who would be stupid enough to actually give me ownership over these charters?**

* * *

What can anyone do when someone goes missing? They can wait for more information, but that won't stop the worry that's building up. There are no guarantees when a child is abducted, when anyone is taken for that matter. The motives aren't always the same, and the actions caused by the motives vary in degree as well. No one knows if the people responsible want to hurt them or if they just want to use them for something.

A lot of the time people are left with worry and not knowing what to do next. They might wait for a ransom call, and even if there is a call, there might not be proof of life. And when there is, it can be even scarier to hear the scared voice on the other end, or even actually see their face. The fact that knowing that someone has been taken and is at the mercy of their captors, not knowing if they will last another minute, or if you'll ever get to see them again is terrifying.

Other times there isn't a call, a video, or even a note, and you're just left completely in the dark. They start to wonder if they'll ever see them again, and it's hard knowing that even if they do everything they can, it still might not be enough.

That was how Bruce Wayne was feeling as he paced his office. Commissioner Gordon had called him to explain a little more about the situation, and why it had been on the news so quickly. Apparently, the two paramedics had called the GCPD and a few officers, including Gordon, had gone to investigate. They guessed that someone in the station leaked it to the news, and that how they found out about it.

Gordon didn't really know much about the case at the moment, even after interrogating the two paramedics. Bruce really wanted to go investigate himself, but right now he needed to stay here and wait for an update; he could do an investigation later.

Even though Bruce had gone through this a few times before, both with Dick and Robin, it didn't make things any easier on him. If anything, it made him more nervous. The more he became a target, the more people would try it, and the more dangerous things could get. They took him from an ambulance of all places! What if there was a problem and he really needed to see a doctor? What if he was hurt? What if he never got to see his boy again?

Bruce's thoughts were interrupted as his phone went off in his pocket. He picked it up, and when he saw it was Jim Gordon calling him, he answered it as he attempted to stay calm. "Hello, Commissioner, did you find something?"

"Hi Bruce," he greeted. "We need to talk."

"Did something happen? Did you find Dick?" Bruce asked quickly.

"We still don't know his location, but we came across something I think you should see," Gordon explained. Bruce didn't feel comforted by how vague Jim was being, if anything it made him more worried. "I can come to the manor so things can be a little more, uh, private."

"Of course, that would probably be best," Bruce answered, although he really just wanted to demand some answers, but by the sound of Gordon's voice, that wasn't going to happen.

"Okay, I'm on my way," he told him.

"See you soon," Bruce said, and they hung up. He made his way out of the office, and started looking for Alfred and calling his name.

"Master Bruce, is everything alright?" the man asked, entering the living room where he had heard Bruce calling for him.

Coming further into the room, he noted that worry was written over Bruce's face. To anyone else, it might have been hard to tell, but Alfred could read theses subtle hints of worry that Bruce was showing. He understood where the worry came from of course, he was just beginning to wonder if something else had happened.

"Commissioner Gordon called and said he needed to show me something, I think it has something to do with Dick's kidnapping. He's on his way over right now." Bruce explained.

"Do they have a lead already?" Alfred asked, trying to sound optimistic.

"It must be something important if he couldn't discuss it over the phone and had to come here." Bruce noted.

"That sounds correct, Sir." Alfred agreed. "When he arrives, I'll bring him to the living room, unless you would prefer to discuss this somewhere else?"

"The living room will be fine," Bruce stated.

"Very well, I shall prepare some tea and scones for you to have while you talk," Alfred told him, beginning to leave the room.

"Thank you," Bruce called as the man left. Then Bruce started walking towards the living room to continue to wait for the commissioner to arrive.

Bruce took a seat on one of the couches as he began to wonder what he would want to talk about that he couldn't tell him over the phone. Had the kidnappers gone to the police? That would be new, and unusual. Maybe they had gotten a tip and his phone calls were being traced, and they called to try to find the signal. It was a little out there, but if they didn't want him to contact the police, then it was actually kind of smart. And if they were doing that, that meant there would be a ransom call, right? There had to be.

Bruce continued to try to convince himself whatever Gordon was going to tell him would somehow relate to being good news on getting Dick back. He knew not to assume that Dick had escaped and was currently in the back of the Commissioner's car and on his way home, Gordon could've told him that, and it was just too hard to believe. He could barely convince himself that he was getting good news.

"Right this way, Commissioner Gordon," he heard Alfred leading the man towards the living room. When Jim entered the room, Bruce stood up and they shared a short greeting as Alfred sat the tray of tea and lemon scones down on the coffee table before he excused himself.

"So, mind telling me what this is about?" Bruce asked. The two were both sitting down, and with a sigh, Gordon pulled out his laptop and started typing as he spoke.

"On the news a little while ago, something came up." Gordon started, deciding it was best to just get straight to the point, and sliding the laptop closer to Bruce. "As they were giving a report, something came up on the screens on the set."

The screen was showing static, but then the picture became clear, and there was a man wearing black ski mask standing there. It was hard to tell where they were exactly do to the poor lighting. As Bruce took in the surroundings, the man started talking, only his voice was disguised.

"Hello, Gotham," the man greeted. "This won't take long, but you will want to stay until the end, we have a special message for you. As most of you know, earlier today three people went missing. We won't give you all of the details, but Richard here wanted to say hello."

The camera panned over to a boy who sat slumped against a wall. He was gagged, and his wrist and ankles were tied together. It didn't look all that necessary as the boy looked as if he would pass out at any second. He also looked pale and as if he was shivering. Richard didn't look particularly injured, but he didn't look well either.

"Now, Richard here has volunteered to help show you all something, isn't that right, kid?" the man asked, filling a syringe with a clear liquid. The boy in question looked up, a little confused as to what they were going to do to him. "This is a pain-inducer, he tested it out earlier, but it looks like he wants some more. It can be given in a lot of ways, even just by skin contact, but it's most effective if it's injected into the bloodstream."

At this point, Dick's eyes went wide as the masked man approached him and sent the liquid into his veins. Not even a second later, and Dick's eyes squeezed tightly together as he felt the aches in his body begin to worsen.

Bruce could easily see the pain written over his face, but he was confused as he didn't see any injuries, had they hurt him before this or was this just part of the drug?

"And now for the demonstration," the masked man continued, grabbing Dick and pushing him off the wall and onto the hard ground where he let out a grunt of pain from the force.

"We'll fast forward through this part." Gordon said quickly, making a grab for the computer.

"No, I need to know what's happening to him." Bruce said firmly, pulling the laptop a little closer to him.

When Bruce looked back at the screen, the man had started kicking the kid on the floor, not very hard at first, just to show what even a small amount could do. The kicks started getting harder and faster, and then he grabbed a bat and brought it out to the side before swinging it down on the poor boy's stomach.

"Come on, Bruce," Gordon started, "you don't need to see this." Jim then reached over and snatched the laptop away from a shocked Bruce Wayne. The boy's muffled cry of pain still ringing through his ears.

When Gordon pressed play again, the screen showed a bruising Dick Grayson with his eyes closed tightly in pain, Bruce was unable to tell if the boy was unconscious or they had just decided to stop. Dick's breathing sounded more labored than it had before, and there were dried tear tracks running down his cheeks.

"I hope we have your attention now," the man stated. "We want Robin. Yes, you heard me, we'll let them go when Robin turns himself in, and yes, it has to be Robin, no cops or Batman, got it? And if we find you beforehand, then I guess we'll have to make other use of the kid here. I hope we've made our point clear, we'll be in touch, Little Bird."

The screen was once again filled with static before going back to showing the wide-eyed news reporter. Her mouth was slightly ajar, and she was looking at the screen were the clip had been showing. One of the camera men announced that they were back on, and the woman quickly began to start talking again before asking to cut to commercial. They knew she had watched the whole thing, and probably a lot of people who had been watching, because it was hard to look away from something like that.

"We couldn't track the signal or detect the voice, well not yet anyways." Gordon explained, gaining Bruce's attention once more. "I'm sorry I had to show you that, but I felt you should know what's going on and I didn't really know how else to explain it to you in a way that made sense."

"No, I'm glad you showed me, just not so much about what I saw," Bruce said. He would hate to be left out about this or find out about the video later on the news or in the paper. "Besides, I would have found out about it later, and I would much rather know now."

"What do we do now?" Bruce asked, pulling himself together and resisting the urge to break something.

"We keep the investigation going until we find him and the people responsible are behind bars," Gordon answered. "We're going to set up a few more interrogations and continue to do some background checks. We'll try the hospital and the school first, then we'll branch off from there."

Bruce nodded in acknowledgment before asking, "What are you going to do about the ransom?"

"Robin?" Bruce nodded, he was curious to see what Gordon thought about it. "I don't really know, I'll probably talk with Batman later about it, see if he has any ideas about what to do."

"A kid for another kid," Bruce pondered. "That's just so wrong, there has to be some other way."

"I don't like it either. We'll find a way to get him out of this, and hopefully avoid having to get Robin involved," Gordon said.

"Why Dick?" Bruce started, talking to himself more than Gordon. "Why use him to get to Robin?"

"I don't know, but don't worry, Bruce, we'll find him," Gordon promised. At that point, Gordon's phone went off. He picked it up and looked at who it was, "It's the station."

Bruce nodded in understanding, and then started to think about what he had seen and what he could do about it as Gordon had his conversation. What would he do if Robin had been the ransom for a kid other than his own? Would he let him go? Would Robin go anyway? Bruce probably wouldn't let it happen if he could help it, at least not until he was assured Robin would be safe and they had a good plan at the ready. But even if he did say no, Robin would probably run off to help them, saying that he would stand a better chance.

And what would these people do to Richard in the meantime? What would happen if the police showed up, or if they found him investigating as Batman? He hated feeling so useless. He felt guilty for letting this happen. Maybe if he had kept Richard home from school today, this wouldn't have happened. But then again, he didn't even know how this had happened. They didn't have enough detail on it, or the reasoning behind their plans. They didn't even know the plan!

"Sorry about that," Gordon said, putting the phone back in his pocket and turning to Bruce.

"Is everything okay?" Bruce questioned.

"Fine, but it turns out that the substitute nurse and the EMT were both just aliases." he announced, clearly frustrated.

"So you think they're behind it?" Bruce asked, a little surprised by the news, but also a little relieved that there were two less hostages.

"That's our best guess." Gordon sighed. "Anyway, they need me back at the station."

Right, Bruce Wayne didn't get to hear about what else was going on at the station, just small details, even if Gordon already knew Bruce wouldn't go to the press with it.

"I'll walk you out," Bruce offered, and the two got up and started walking towards the door. It was a quiet, slightly tense walk. Not really because of the company, but more so the situation.

"Call us if anything happens, and if they contact you, try to keep them talking as long as you can," Gordon reminded him.

"Right," Bruce agreed, hoping that he would get to have some communicating with the kidnappers, and maybe try to convince them to come to some more realistic terms. That itself seemed unlikely at this point after watching the footage, but he still hoped that maybe they would contact him and let him talk to Dick.

.oOo.

"Hey," Wally greeted Kaldur and Conner when he got to the cave. Looking around he noticed no one else was around yet. "Where is everybody else?"

"M'gann's at cheerleading practice," Conner said.

"And I believe Artemis said something about needing to finish a report for her history class before she could come over." Kaldur said.

"And Rob?" Wally asked, and the two shrugged. Wally sent him a quick text asking where he was and then, "So, who's up for a round of Mario Kart?

Artemis and Megan arrived at the same time, and the two joined the boys who were currently playing a very intense game of Mario Cart. The game ended with Wally winning, and then they turned it off. Checking the clock, they saw they still had some time until Black Canary arrived for their training, so they made their way into the kitchen and they started making a snack. Well, M'gann started making a snack for everyone else.

"Hey, was Rob not with you guys?" Wally asked, checking his phone I case he missed a message.

"No, I thought he would've been here by now; it's not like him to be late." Artemis commented.

"Well after what happened in Gotham earlier, it makes sense that he wouldn't come to practice." M'gann said.

"What occurred earlier today that has to do with Robin?" Kaldur asked.

"And how would you know if something was wrong with Robin and not the rest of us?" Conner questioned.

"It was all over the news," M'gann started.

"Is he okay? What happened?" Wally asked quickly before M'gann could continue her explanation. Then he started speed-speaking to the point that no one could understand him.

"Wally!" Artemis yelled, gaining the speedster's attention, and he gave a quick apology and stopped talking. "M'gann, you were saying?"

"Well, some girls on the team were talking about it, so I don't really know all of the details. Apparently Bruce Wayne's ward, Richard Grayson, was kidnapped. Then later today, someone hacked into Gotham News and played a video over it. At the end of the video, he said that for the boy to be returned home, Robin would have to willingly turn himself in and go with them." M'gann finished explaining.

"Wait, did you actually see the video?" Wally asked.

"No, none of us saw it. There was an article, and there was a clip of something on the news, but we didn't watch it." Megan answered.

"And they want Robin?" Wally checked.

"That's what it said. I don't think Robin went after them yet, though. The article probably would've mentioned that, so I'm sure he's fine and working out a plan with Batman right now." Megan said reassuringly, trying to help Wally stay calm.

"But what about the kid?" Artemis seemed… off, but Wally couldn't put his finger on it. She seemed worried, and… nervousness maybe? There was something more to her voice though, almost like… guilt? "Is he okay?"

"The article didn't really say much, but I think so." M'gann said, also seeming puzzled by Artemis' reaction.

"I don't really see the big deal," Conner said. "I mean, it's a hostage situation, right? Robin's dealt with plenty of those before, and it's always worked out. For him and the hostage."

"Conner has a point. And it does us no good to worry." Kaldur pointed out. "I am certain that Batman and Robin have this situation under control."

The others continued to talking, but Wally had zoned out, because, no, this situation was the opposite of "under control." To the others, this was just a fancy hostage situation designed by another baddie. Sure, they were probably concerned for the kid, but they had never met him. And they were probably worried that Robin might have to turn himself over to a villain, but Rob had dealt with worse and been just fine. And if it had been any other kid, Robin would be able to handle it just fine, but Wally knew he would never even get the chance.

* * *

**Another chapter down, I hope it wasn't too bad. Did I get the characters okay? I wasn't sure how I wanted to have the interactions between Bruce and Gordon go, and so I feel I might have made it too forced or too out of character or just completely off. Any tips on how I can portray the characters' reactions better? Did you like it? Did you hate it? Was it a good idea bringing in the team's reaction to the news like that? Or was it a bad idea for Megan to tell them because she heard it at practice? And what will everyone do now that they know what's going on? What do you want to see next? More of the team? Robin? Batman? A little bit of everything? Let me know, and don't forget to leave a review :)  
**

**Special thanks to: sapphire110, soulevans31, DarkMousyRulezAll, HappyGoLucky15, Butterfly Crown (and thanks for reviewing on my other stories as well!), The Awesome God Apollo, Robin Rider, Boo4Moo, 17blanceri, ThePowerOfBooks, IndiaMoore, Hyper-Blossom Z, Red Sky at Morning, Jaddis****, amyanime4, Bethisafan77, Gemini Genim, Guest (guest), Mickey's Girl (guest), PenguinLover28 (guest), Turtles18, Anonymous-Nerds-Unite, The Shadow Keeper, Pottergirl3333, IndiaMoore, and jamiefin for the follows, favorites, and the amazing reviews!  
**

**Guest (guest): Thanks, I'm glad you liked, hopefully I'm wrong and this chapter is good too. Hey, are you the same Guest who reviewed on The Anniversary? **

**Mickey's Girl (guest): Thanks again for the review, super sorry for the late update by the way, but I'm sure you guys are already tired of my excuses, so I shall just continue to apologize until I feel I have a valid reason**

**PenguinLover28 (guest): Thanks for the review, I'm glad you are continuing to enjoy this, and keeping up with the kind reviews! Sounds like a good costume, and the idea of a zombie anime fangirl would be so cool, as if I was a zombie, I would probably be that one. Batgirl would've been a cool costume, but I wanted to go as Robin, more specifically Stephanie Brown. I ended up putting together a Nightwing-ish costume. I had black pants, black gloves, and my black glasses worked as a mask, and then I threw on my Nightwing hoodie. A few people even recognized who I was, so all was well, and thanks for asking about the sob story :)**

**Turtles18: I feel so bad, I kept forgetting that I wasn't able to PM you and so hadn't put you in the responses, I'm really sorry. Thanks for the reviews, and reminding me to have fun with the story. I'm having fun writing this, even if I'm a little leery about it at times, and I hope you guys are enjoying reading it. And thanks for checking out and reviewing on my other story :)**

**Okay, I've been getting a pretty good response with this story, but the last chapter's response was just so amazing, it made me so happy, and it came just when I needed it. Thank you guys so much and I hope it continues! When I saw all of the emails, I kept asking myself what I did in the last chapter that you guys liked it so much.**

**Until time**

**-TheImaginativeFox**

**(thanks again, you guys are awesome!)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Discalaimer: Nope, still don't have ownership, and even if I said I did, would any of you actually believe me?**

* * *

Bruce sat at the Batcomputer, running the tape over once again, trying to find something to give away the location. But once again found nothing useful. He had tried to pick up on Dick's condition, and how bad it really was. This was proving more difficult, as he wasn't able to figure out exactly how hard the pain inducer worked, or what else they did to him that he just couldn't see or pick up on.

After a pause, he started the clip over again, along with the location device that still wasn't able to pick anything up. He paused the video at the beginning and zoomed in on Dick. At that point, he didn't have anything in his system that Bruce knew of and didn't appear to be hurt. The look on the poor kid's face, however, told a different story.

It was wracked with fear and confusion. Bruce didn't know how or what else this pain inducer was capable of. For all he knew it just increased senses and made them stronger, in turn becoming something of a pain inducer. But the drug they used could also put an increase on other things besides senses, for example his emotions among other things he had yet to think of that lasted longer even after its original purpose wore off.

Bruce didn't know the answers to his growing list of questions, but he intended to find out one way or another. But for now, he just searched Richard's pleading face. It might not have been obvious for an outsider to see what Dick was really feeling right now, but Bruce could definitely pick up on it, whether he wanted to or not.

He just couldn't look away from the screen; from his child. His eyes. Oh, his eyes. It was close to the look Dick had when he woke up from the simulation after it went wrong not too long ago. In the same way, hoping that what had happened before wasn't real, and hoping that it wouldn't ever happen. And then the look of disappointment when he was left there; no one coming to save him. Just like in the simulation, only this time if something went wrong, Bruce would be to blame. It wasn't some complication during an exercise, it was a plan that had been put into action on purpose, and he wouldn't be able to tell himself it wasn't real; that it never happened.

Bruce felt his heart tug at these thoughts. He had failed. His boy had gotten hurt, and he hadn't been able to stop it. Instead, Dick had been, and currently was, alone, and right now Bruce wasn't any closer to finding him than when he started. All he wanted to do was get Dick home safe and sound.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the locator go off. It had picked up the same signal as the feed from the video on the news had. He quickly clicked on it to see where it was coming from, only to be confused that it was coming from his computer upstairs. Quickly, he stood up from his chair and ran up the stairs to investigate.

Ending up in his study, he quickly typed in his password and saw he had a new email. Opening it, it was indeed what had caused the locator to go off. What he saw was another video, but it was longer than the one shown on the news. Still curious, he slowly clicked play and was greeted by a new voice, this time lacking a face to go along with it.

"Hello Bruce," it started in an obviously computer disguised voice. "Don't be alarmed, I'm here to help. But you see, before I can do that, we need to set some ground rules. You've probably already seen what we put up on the news showing our demands, and if you have, feel free to skip this next part. It's the same clip we put on the news earlier this afternoon."

And it was. It started the same way, explaining that they had Dick Grayson and were showing what their pain inducer could do. Just like on the news, it was a few minutes of them going back and forth throwing Dick around. He knew they weren't hitting him hard enough to break anything, and they were avoiding his head to make sure they didn't give him a concussion. They were, however, hitting him hard enough to leave him sore with some bruises to show for it. With one final kick to the side, Dick landed on his side and didn't make any attempt to move as he did before. Instead, he kept his eyes closed tight as he tried to focus on his breathing. Only this time, Bruce knew that he wasn't unconscious, as he had watched the video so many times. Then the man who had been attacking him stepped away, facing the camera and began to explain the ransom.

"Now that we're all caught up, I'll continue." The voice started again after the clip ended." I guarantee you that Richard is fine, it looked much worse than it really was, but the drug has worn off and no more harm shall come to him unless it is necessary. I hope you can understand that we only had to do that to gain the attention we required. And if everything goes as planned, you will have him back in just a few short days.

"I can't give you too much information just yet, but trust me when I say it would be best for you and your son if you just go along with what we ask. If we need a small favor and you comply, I can assure you that Richard will be in good hands until we can return him to you. But if not, I'm afraid we won't be able to prevent all of the possible incidents that might occur.

"We'll talk again soon, and if I'm happy with your response, I might be able to set something up so you can speak with Richard. Have a nice day, Mr. Wayne," and with that the video ended, and Bruce was left starring at the screen in shock.

They had contacted him, but they hadn't told him they wanted anything other than his cooperation. Who were these people? And what did they really want?

"Master Bruce?" came Alfred's shocked voice form behind him.

Bruce turned around to face him. The man was anything but pleased. He looked slightly pale and concerned about what he had witnessed. Bruce hadn't shown him the video after Gordon had left, instead running right down to the cave after the Commissioner had left, not giving Alfred any explanation.

"How long have you been standing there?" Bruce questioned, wondering when Alfred had gotten back.

"Long enough," Alfred answered simply. "Was this what Commissioner Gordon needed to show you?"

"Yes, the Commissioner said the clip of Dick was on the news," Bruce sighed, recalling the argument that he and Alfred had had in the cave a while after Gordon had left. "I've been in the cave trying to track a signal, and when it went off and said it was found on my computer, I found this extended version with his kidnappers leaving a message for me."

Alfred didn't know how to respond. It wasn't like it was the first ransom video they had received, but normally when Richard Grayson had been kidnapped they usually just wanted money, but it appeared that this particular group had something else in mind. Pulling himself together, Alfred spoke, "And it seems they have made quite the demand. Seeing as the price for the young master's return would be difficult to pay, we will just have to figure this out another way. But I assure you, we will find a way around this, and if anyone could pull it off, I believe it would be you, Master Bruce."

Bruce noticed the look on the man's face that hadn't changed since first witnessing the video, if anything it had only increased. He could also pick out the anger Alfred held in his voice, not directed at Bruce, but more so at the demands and threats that had been made. Even so, Alfred's last spoken thoughts had that same feel of wisdom and encouragement he had come to appreciate. And as Alfred spoke to him, he started to think of other ways besides trackers to get a location, or at least some ideas on how to find a few leads that he could look into.

"Alfred?" Bruce asked, breaking the silence as he thought of something.

"Yes, sir?" came Alfred's reply.

"When you picked up his school stuff, was any of his lunch left?" Bruce continued.

"Yes, I left it in the kitchen, why? Do you think someone tampered with it?" Alfred questioned, not even phased by the sudden question.

"It's possible, and if he was and we know what they used, it could give us some things to look for," Bruce explained.

"Very well, I shall go grab it and bring it downstairs," Alfred said, as Bruce nodded in understanding and walked towards the clock, hoping that they could just find something to bring them a little closer to finding out what was going on. If the pain inducer was in the food, they could figure out how it was made, while helping to point them in the right direction.

.oOo.

Dick slowly succumbed to consciousness, and as he did he became aware of the aches across his body. The way he was lying wasn't giving any relief to his bruises and the dull headache was becoming more prominent. A moan unwilling escaped him, reminding him of his current situation as he heard the muffled sound through the gag.

His eyes quickly snapped open and he quickly took in his surroundings. He found himself in the same place he was when they had filmed the video, although the details on that were still a little fuzzy, as was everything else that had occurred that day. He tried to push himself up into a sitting position, only to be greeted with shouts of protests coming from his aching body and dizziness to consume him from the sudden motion. Once he was situated, he became aware that the voices, which he hadn't even noticed before, had ceased.

Dick just looked up at them, cocking his head slightly to the side, as if considering them, and the two masked men looked back. Dick was slightly relieved that they didn't come at him and try to hurt him again. He didn't know if he could take another round with that stuff, as still felt really tired and was aware that he was still processing things a little slowly. He understood what was going on, sort of, but he was still a little confused on all of the details.

The two men had a quiet conversation that Dick wasn't paying attention to. He was having difficulty focusing on things at the moment, as he was too focused on not falling back asleep. He didn't really know why he felt so tired, and he didn't really remember falling asleep either. He thought about the possibility of being knocked out, but he didn't feel any familiar symptoms that proved that thought, and by now, he could usually tell.

"Here," Dick looked up and was greeted with a glass of water with a straw in it. He looked at it suspiciously, so the man continued, "It's just water."

This whole thing was getting weird. The give him some drug and kidnap him, then they make sure he's okay before giving him the drug again and hitting him with a bat, and then they offer him water. Noticing the pattern, it probably wasn't in his best interest to accept it, so he turned his head away in protest.

"Fine, don't drink it," the man started. "I'll leave it here in case you change your mind."

Dick continued to stare at him defiantly as the man set the glass down and walked back over to where the other man was sitting. But soon, they started talking again, leaving Dick to fight off sleep on his own as he let out an occasional small cough. As he did, he figured being sick couldn't be all bad in this situation. After all, getting them sick could make good revenge. Dick smirked at the idea of the two of them under a blanket with thermometers in their mouths when Batman came in and got his own revenge before dropping them off at the police station and taking him home to his warm bed.

* * *

**So that last part was an image I got while writing, and I decided to throw it in. Even while held captive, I imagine Dick still being a bit of a little troll. I hope you liked the update, don't know how I feel about some parts, but overall I don't think it's too bad. How where the reactions? I still have to do some for Kaldur and Conner, and then Alfred's is coming soon as well. How was Alfred? I figured he would try to stay strong around Bruce while giving him some assurance, and then think over everything when he was alone. But any tips you might have for the characters would be great. I also did a little more with Dick being sick, more because my sister got me sick. Sorry if this story is getting repetitive, but I think things are going to speed up, so anything you want to see for the next chapter? Thanks for reading!**

**Special thanks to: TheEnderKat, Mickey's Girl, livingwithbooks, TheUltimateAngela, GenderBender25, Triscribe, yuekochan, Nmncartoons, IrisLillyRose (thanks again for the reviews!), Sophia. E. Anderson , EvilQueen5, Tsukiko Ono, mortalathena, katie. gray. 3914, stikenotes, Lil'LordBrat, hogwartsisawesome, Potato Cats, IndiaMoore, Jaddis, The Shadow Keeper, Bethisafan77, DuskMuse711, Mickey's Girl, PenguinLover28 (guest), Pottergirl3333, Butterfly Crown, Turtles18, Hi (guest), Anonymous-Nerds-Unite(sorry for the shortness, but this one is about 200 words longer), and Guest (guest) for the favorites, follows, and reviews :)**

**PenguinLover28 (guest): Thanks for the review, I like Wally, too, so I hope I'm doing his character justice ****  
**

**Hi (guest): Thanks for the review and feedback, I really appreciate it! Yeah, maybe Megan was a bit too casual about it, but at that point she hadn't seen the video or read what had happened in the video. And the last chapter where I put the team in was more of an introduction, which was why I didn't make the reactions too big, and almost didn't even add it last time. Either way, I hope the reactions where better in this chapter, and I still have more to build on. Thanks again :)**

**Guest: That's a good idea, maybe I'll do something with that, I'll have to see what I do with this story first of course, but I'm already getting ideas**

**Until next time**

**-TheImaginativeFox**

**(Reviews for the sick writer? What about for sick Robin?)**


	6. Chapter 6

**A little later than I expected, but here all the same, I hope you enjoy it**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing **

* * *

Bruce was back in the cave, only this time Alfred was accompanying him. The pair were just finishing testing the remains of Richard's lunch, which was some corn chowder that Alfred had made for Bruce and Richard to take with them. Alfred and Bruce had eaten it earlier without any problem, so they assumed whatever Dick was given was introduced at school. In addition to the food, they were also checking the water from the thermos, which, much like the boy's lunch, was mostly untouched.

A loud, long beep broke the silence that was across the cave, signifying that the tests were complete. Bruce shut it off and removed the objects, then started to look over the results. After a quick scan of the details he began to explain what it was.

"It looks like some type of poison, and it was only found in the food," Bruce started. "It's supposed to cause symptoms similar to a stomach bug, and it can only work up to thirty minutes."

"But there was no indication of the pain inducer that they mentioned in the video?" Alfred questioned, taking the paper that was handed to him.

"Nothing like that, so unless it can evaporate without leaving a trace, it wasn't in anything he ate or drank," Bruce answered. "I think this was just to give the pain inducer something to feed off of to give it a better effect."

"Didn't they mention that it could be given in multiple ways, Master Bruce?" Alfred offered.

"Yes, they said that it could be given as anything from skin contact with the most effective being injection." Bruce elaborated.

"Well, we have eliminated ingestion, unless we believe it could've been evaporated by this point." Alfred started as he thought of other possible forms. "Perhaps we could test the containers for any trace of a skin-contact drug?"

"We could try that. I'll also scan for finger prints, maybe we can find out who put the poison in the food, too." Bruce stood up, putting his gloves back on before placing the water bottle and container into a machine that would scan for anything on the containers.

Alfred was both relieved and worried about their findings. He was relieved that whatever they had put in his food seemed mostly harmless, but he was also worried that they still hadn't been able to find the pain inducer. Not knowing what they were giving Master Richard was unsettling, especially since they didn't know what kind of effects it could have in the long run. Alfred knew for a fact that having a mixture of drugs in your system wasn't a good thing, particularly those invented by people whose intent was to hurt someone else. Alfred would never be able to forget the harm that was inflicted upon himself and his charges by the different venoms, toxins, and gases created by Gotham's villains. Alfred could recall many late nights spent in the cave trying to come up with a cure to a new formula.

A memory of when Dick had been exposed to a mix of Joker Venom and Fear Gas came to mind. Alfred had been waiting for their return, just as he normally would. But when the Batmobile pulled up this time, he could hear cries of fear in between laughter coming from inside it. Batman had jumped out of the car, pulling off his cowl as he ran to the other side, soon holding a struggling Robin close in his arms.

"How long has he been like this?" Alfred asked, quickly making his way to the medical area as Bruce laid the crying boy down and removed his mask. Dick's eyes were wide, fear and shock filling them as he continued to watch something none of them could see.

"I don't know. Joker got a hold of him and he was already exposed when I found him, and that was approximately five minutes ago," Bruce said, placing an oxygen mask over Dick's mouth and nose in hopes that it could help him to control his breathing a little better. "It looks like it's a mix of Fear Gas and Joker Venom, maybe joker used both or he created a new formula using similar components of each."

"I see, we'll need to do a blood test to see if we can revere it," Alfred decided, picking up the needed supplies.

As he did this, Dick's laughter was increasing and proving more difficult to control, even with the assistance of an oxygen mask. He was also beginning to shake as he curled into himself. Alfred knew Dick must be in pain from the constricting effects the forced laughter had along with the injuries he received from their battle, and this wasn't even counting what he was going through mentally.

"Master Bruce, please try to hold him still," Alfred commanded as he tried to keep his voice calm and steady. Bruce nodded, easily holding the boy's small frame still as Alfred took some blood.

"Just focus on breathing, Dicky," Bruce coaxed, trying to give Dick a reassuring look. Once Alfred removed the needle, Bruce started running his hand through the boy's hair while the other hand held on to Dick's. Bruce continued to whisper encouraging words to Dick as Alfred finished with the results.

"No," Alfred heard Dick cry out, once again struggling against Bruce's hold. "We have t-to save them before he gets them. Just leave us alone!" he continued to plea, and then the laughter started again. "It's not funny. Stop laughing. I said stop!"

Alfred knew no matter what they said to him it would only fall on unhearing ears. Not because he didn't want to listen, but because he couldn't. Dick wasn't very aware of what was happening to or around him, all he could seem to focus on was what he was currently experiencing. He couldn't even tell that he was the one who was creating the laughter. And even though the laugh sounded like his own, it still wasn't truly _his_. It didn't bring others joy when they heard it, instead it brought worry as the sensed the fear seeping through it. Then there was the huge smile on his face that didn't belong there as tears fell down his cheeks and heartbreaking cries left his mouth. Alfred also noticed that Dick's normally bright, blue eyes were now clouded with fear and abandonment. The poor boy was shaking, and all Alfred could do was hope that they were able to resolve this soon.

"The scan is finished," Alfred announced as he took the results from the machine and looked it over. "It appears to be a new formula that shares components of both Fear Gas and Joker Venom, as we suspected."

Bruce nodded in understanding, but his main focus remained on the boy. Dick was still struggling for breath, and all Bruce could do was watch. Dick was no longer trying to get off of the bed, but the shaking was only growing worse along with the desperate pleas that he continued to chant over and over again between the laughter and gasps for air.

"Now that we know what it's made of, I'll start trying to come up with a way to neutralize it," Bruce decided, begrudgingly standing up to leaving Dick's side. Alfred knew Bruce hated having to leave him like this, even if he was just going over to the lab where he would still be able to see Dick. It was hard enough trying to soothe him, but now Bruce would be forced to try to ignore him in order to work on the cure.

"He's really tense," Bruce noticed as he looked over Dick, brushing some stray hairs out of his face. "Do you think giving him some painkillers could help him relax?"

"I would think so, Sir," Alfred agreed. They hadn't been able to give the boy anything in fear that it would only make it worse. His injuries weren't too serious from what they could tell, but they knew that he was agitating them and was definitely feeling it. "Shall I start him on something to help numb the pain?"

"Yes, just nothing too heavy; he needs to stay conscious." Bruce explained, but Alfred already knew the risk of the boy falling into a coma if he did fall asleep.

"Of course, Sir." Alfred said, gathering a few things to give the boy an IV, as it would be nearly impossible to get him to swallow something. He walked back over, and Bruce held one of Dick's shaking arms steady once more for Alfred to insert the needle. Once the medicine started working its way through Dick's bloodstream, he seemed to relax a little.

It wasn't too much later that they were giving him the cure and Alfred started to work on patching him up. Only after Dick was settled upstairs in his bed with Bruce by his side did Alfred fully acknowledge what could've happened. Alfred would prefer to not to need to have nights like these, and he was sure Bruce and Dick felt the same, but it was also a necessary part of what they did, and the two accepted that and knew the risk. Alfred understood this as well, but he would still have times were he would lie awake at night and be haunted by memories of the close calls that had happened and the thoughts of what could have been.

And that night had been one of those nights. Alfred had gotten up out of bed and made his way towards Dick's room to reassure himself that everything was fine. When he entered the room, he found both sleeping peacefully, Dick in his bed and Bruce in the chair. Alfred smiled to himself as he watched the two sleep, happy that at the moment everything was at peace.

"Nothing." Bruce's voice forced the memory to fade, and Alfred brought his attention to what Bruce was saying. "Not a trace of the drug or any finger prints other than ours and Dick's."

Alfred saw past the irritation in the man's voice and saw instantly saw past the worry. "I'm sure we'll think of something, perhaps the Batman will be able to find something tonight?"

"But where am I supposed to start? I can't just check every possible location, not even counting the possibility that they're not even in Gotham anymore," Bruce explained.

"Maybe looking for their motive could help give us a better idea of suspects and locations," Alfred suggested.

"Good idea, Alfred," Bruce started to think of main reasons why someone would go after either. "When someone goes after Dick, they usually want money, or sometimes something from Wayne Enterprises. And when someone goes after Robin, it's usually for revenge or to get to me. There has to be a connection, I'm just not seeing it."

"And you believe Dick is being used as more than bait to get to Robin, correct?" Alfred asked.

Bruce nodded." The video that they sent said something about needing favors, I think that it has to do with whatever they're planning."

"And what about Robin?" Alfred continued. "Do you think they're using him to get to Batman or do you think they have a purpose for Robin?"

"It doesn't make sense to take so many steps just to get to Batman, and then with the video they sent, it has to be something from both Bruce Wayne and Batman," Bruce explained. "But it makes sense for them to want to use Robin for something, too."

"Perhaps their intent is to use the two as leverage?" Alfred suggested.

"That's what I was thinking at first, too. But then instead of just taking Robin like they took Dick, they wanted Robin to come to them," Bruce stated.

"You do make a point," Alfred agreed. "Is it possible that they have different purposes in this plan?"

"That's one possibility," Bruce said. "But to know what those could be we would need to know more about what they were planning."

"And do you have any ideas for what that could be?" Alfred questioned, unsure of what it could be himself.

"Not yet, but that's what I intend to find out," Bruce decided firmly, heading off to get dressed, and when he came back headed for the Batmobile. "I think it's time Batman started his investigation."

"I wish you luck, Sir," Alfred called, and Batman was off.

.oOo.

When Dick woke up, the first thing that he noticed was that he was no longer on a floor. The next thing he realized was that he didn't really remember falling asleep, but soon it was all flooding back to him. The kidnapping. The drugs. The video. The pain. And then he remembered hearing his captors talking about needing to move. They gave him something; a sedative, and a good one at that. He could still feel its effects trying to lull him back into oblivion, but his judgment told him otherwise.

So Dick tried to focus on his surroundings. He was lying on a cot in a cold, dark room. He noticed that he was no longer blind folded and that his gag was gone. His hands were still bound painfully behind him, and his ankles were also tied together. He was about to test to see if he would be able to get out of them when he heard someone approach the door.

"Ah, you're up," the masked man observed, closing the door behind him. Dick watched carefully as he carried a bag over to his bed. "Hungry?"

"No thanks," Dick said, looking down at the food inside of the bag that the man was showing him in distrust.

"Are you just not going to eat or drink anything?" the man asked.

Dick didn't answer, and he was trying to keep up a good glare, but then a round of coughs hit him that he couldn't suppress. Luckily, he was able to get them under control again, and they sat in silence for a little longer.

The man let out a sigh and closing the paper bag again before continuing, "It's not poison, you know. If we wanted to poison you, we wouldn't give you an option."

Dick still didn't answer, only making the man more aggravated.

"You feeling okay? You don't look that great," the man commented, and if Dick was being honest, he really wasn't. There was more than one reason he wasn't eating what they were offering him. The one was based off of a previous kidnapping that involved being poisoned by what they were feeding him and it had almost killed him, and the other was that he was pretty sure he was going to puke, and so he felt like food wasn't the best idea.

"I think I'm going to be sick." Dick said quietly as he paled. The man's eyes went wide, and he quickly dumped the bag's contents onto the bed and held it out just in time as Dick threw up into it. Since he hadn't really eaten anything all day and had already thrown up twice before this, it wasn't much, which Dick was relived about.

"Better?" he asked after Dick had stopped dry heaving, but Dick just glared at him in response.

"It was probably just the sedative, they can make you nauseas." he continued to explain, and Dick nodded absentmindedly.

Dick jumped a little when he heard something open. Looking up, he saw that it was a window on the door.

"The other guys are here, so if you're done we can go," the other masked man explained.

"Right," the man stood up from the bed and then he left the room, leaving Dick alone once more.

He listed as he heard to new people talk to the others outside the door for a while. He decided to take their distraction to test his restraints, but they wouldn't budge. He decided he could at least try to make himself more comfortable, so he started to twist around until his hands were in front of him. It didn't take long, and he was able to do it silently. With his hands now in front of him, he put himself in a more comfortable sitting position and waited for it to be silent again. That was when he heard coughing, only this time it wasn't from him, and instead it was from someone outside.

"You okay?" the first masked man asked.

"Fine." the second masked man said after he finished coughing.

"It sounds like you're coming down with something." a new voice commented.

"Maybe you picked up on whatever the kid has." the first masked man suggested.

"I hate that kid."

And with that, a smirk appeared on Dick's face.

* * *

**What do you think? Was the flashback a bad idea, or did you like it? And what about Alfred helping Bruce come up with ideas? I always liked seeing Alfred helping him, so I thought I would try to do that, but I hope I didn't make the thing too OOC. For Babs I based some of her character off of The Batman, same with Alfred since we didn't see much of either of them in season one. So next chapter will have a bit more action, maybe I'll have Batman talk with the team, would you guys like that? And then did you guys like how Dick is slowly infecting them? I don't know about this chapter, but others I'm not too sure about, so I would love to hear some of your input. Thanks for reading, I really appreciate you guys sticking with the story :)**

**Special thanks to: thebibliophileshavethephonebox, 1Bat-A-Rang1, chibihyu, Chipmunk Superfan, Pirate-Spy-Demigod-Wizard, milagrosXD, Ladnik, smartypants023, ImnIslandGirl, apple-06, ItzAGoodThing, Flame Shado, Just. me. and. nobody. else, A Small Voice, Triscribe, Anonymous-Nerds-Unite, GenderBender25, Butterfly Crown, Mickey's Girl, Bethisafan77, IndiaMoore, Justkindaannoyed, The Shadow Keeper, mortalathena, IrisLillyRose , and PenguinLover28 for the follows, favorites, and lovely reviews, they seriously mean so much to me!**

**Justkindaannoyed: Thank you! I'm glad you liked it :)**

**PenguinLover28: Don't worry about it, sorry for the late update. I loved it, too, it's just such a cool concept. And you might've meant this, but Dick did know who Artemis was, and he was a total troll about it XD**

**So life is crazy and haven't had time to write, but now I'm on break and so I should supposedly have more time. I'm also really tired, so sorry for any typos or if this entire thing is completely incoherent. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Years :)**

**Until next time**

**-TheImaginativeFox **

**(reviews?)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey guys, sorry I wasn't able to update sooner, I've been dealing with some stuff and I wasn't able to write for the longest time. As a result of that, lots of ideas have built up, and so this chapter is longer than usual. And sorry for any typos, my eyes are tired from starting at a screen for so long, so I probably missed some things. I hope you enjoy it, and please let me know your thoughts on it :)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

* * *

Dick covered his snicker as the first two guards walked away. He wondered if the person behind this was here, too. He had obviously been moved, but where? And how far? He could be at their base; there were definitely more people here than the ones who left and the ones somewhere outside his door, and he could tell this place was bigger. He figured there might even be other windowless rooms like his own, and that could mean other captives. He continued to look around the room, and then he spotted his escape; the ventilation system.

_Perfect, now to just get out of these restraints. I think I can grab my utility belt . . . _

But it wasn't there, or rather his jacket where he kept it wasn't there. They had taken it off, although he had no idea why and couldn't remember when they did so. Maybe it was covered in blood or vomit? Yeah, that might be a good reason, but not having the tools in his belt would just make his job harder. Maybe it was for the best, Batman would probably be upset if his identity was compromised. Dick just hoped they didn't happen to find something in the blazer.

_Right, getting out._

He started working on getting his ankles loose, but that was proving more difficult than he originally thought it would be. The knot they used to tie restrain him was one that he would normally just cut off, and it would take some struggle to get it off.

Finally, he got them off and was trying to decide how to take off the ones around his wrists. Maybe if he had something to wedge between the knots, that way he could pull it apart. He looked around for anything he could use to aid him in getting rid of the ropes, but couldn't find anything, so he continued in his silent battle.

He thought he heard someone moving close by, and he started to fear that they might be coming into the room, so he quickly and quietly lied down on the bed, covering himself with the thin blanket, his knees pulled up to his chest, hoping that the wouldn't come in. Luckily, no one entered the room, but that didn't mean they wouldn't later on. He waited another minute as he listened for more movement, but became satisfied that no one would intrude. He started on loosening the ropes again, but this time much faster and more urgent than before, taking the previous event as a warning to hurry.

He looked back towards the contents from the bagged lunch that had been left behind and chided himself. If he had said he wanted it, the guy probably would've cut the bindings on his wrist off so he could eat. Sure, there was a chance that he wouldn't have done anything, but it still would've been a chance. If the guy had cut them off and left them off, it would've made everything much faster and easier. If he undid them so he could eat, there was a chance he could've put his hands in a better positon when he was tied up again. And then if he happened to have the other guy come in to help him, he could've had a chance at getting through the door, although he didn't know what he might face on the outside. Then again, those were all just chances, and his reality was undoing complicated knots.

_Wait, I think I almost have it. Finally, got it!_

With his hands free, he pocketed the ropes as he got off of the cot and walked over to the vent, while subconsciously rubbing his wrists. The vent was high up, but he thought he could reach high enough to pull himself up and into it. It was a good thing he was able to get the ropes off, otherwise he didn't think he would've been able to get a good enough grip to pull off the vent cover, and he definitely wouldn't have been able to pull himself up and get inside without being heard by the guards.

He grabbed the sides and began to lift it open, hoping that it wouldn't squeak as he did so. Once it was open, he gave the room a once over and listened to make sure that no one was walking by where he was being kept, and then when he was satisfied that no one would walk in, he lifted himself up and into the vent and started crawling.

_I didn't think this through too well._

As Dick crawled through, he realized he was only getting himself lost. His still tired mind wasn't keeping up with how many turns he had taken or which direction he had gone. He really just wanted to sleep, but he knew he couldn't risk that now. Especially when he was so close! Or, rather he hoped he was. He was mentally cursing whatever sedative they had given him, it was a heavy one, and it was really messing with his sense of time and direction, which weren't good things to have to deal with during an escape. Not to mention that the itching feeling in his throat was slowly becoming more prominent and harder to control.

"Well, take it or leave it. I have other people I can go to, you know." the voice made him stop where he was crawling and he instinctively looked to the side where it was coming from, but he couldn't see anyone, which also meant that they couldn't see him, so that was good. He noted the voice belonged to a child, probably around ten or eleven. But what would a kid being doing here? Especially roaming about freely, and . . . selling something?

"Sorry kid, that's the offer," that voice belonged to one of the guards.

"But earlier you said if I got the—" the young voice started to complain.

"Shut up!" the older man interrupted, and it was followed by a slap, a small scuffle with some other hits, and finally a thump as the smaller body fell to the ground.

The man continued in a hiss, "We can't talk about that out in the open, you know that."

It almost sounded like the boy sniffled as Dick heard him push himself up. "Well sorry," he sassed. "I can get work somewhere else, too, you know. And I bet someone else would love to have these."

"But you won't go somewhere else, will you?" the man started. "We know you, and that's why we let you stick around. Besides, not many people are willing to trust a street rat like you, if anything they'll take the stuff and get rid of you. Now, I'll ask you again, are you going to take it and leave, or did you want some more motivation?"

"You think I can't take it?" the boy sneered, defiantly pushing his luck.

"I don't know, can you?" the man retorted.

"-tt-" Dick could just tell the kid was rolling his eyes, but whether he was bluffing about his skills or not was unknown to him. "Whatever, I'm not afraid of you,"

"Even if you're not afraid of me doesn't mean you can take me," the man explained.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, just pay me so I can go," the kid demanded, starting to feel a little nervous about what might happen to him if he didn't get out of there soon.

"I don't know, you've made me pretty angry. Tell you what, you get me the ones you lost, and then we'll talk," the man suggested.

"That wasn't my fault and you know it!" the kid cried out.

"And it's not my problem," the man replied, his temper rising.

"But I still got all of the other stuff, I deserve the full pay for that." the kid said more firmly, now switching to saying "stuff" instead of what it actually was so he could avoid getting hit again.

"Well, next time you'll show a little more respect and bring it to us on time, maybe then you'll get your "full pay"," he heard the man starting to walk away from the kid, but the kid started walking after him.

"That's not fair! I got what the boss asked for, and it wasn't that late, especially considering who I ran into. Besides, I couldn't take too much of the sedatives and supplies without her noticing," the boy tried to reason, making the man stop in his tracks.

_Who's "her"? _

"That's just how it works, and if you need the money so bad, I suggest you hurry. Knowing you, I bet you could get the rest by tonight," the man reasoned, starting to walk away again, this time leaving the boy behind.

_Maybe he could tell me how to get out of here. He probably knows his way around, maybe I could try to follow him out. . ._

Everything was going fine, and Dick thought that they were almost out, and once he saw how to get to the exit, he would just have to get out of the vents and leave. When that was done, he would figure out where he was and then make his way home, or maybe trying to find a phone would be better. Yeah, he would find a phone and call Bruce, or maybe the police first. He would decide who to call when the time came.

All his hope quickly diminished as he heard yelling and running coming after them.

"Todd! What are you playing at? What did you _do_?!" the man yelled in urgency. The boy, Todd, turned around as Dick continued to watch, paralyzed by fear.

"What are you talking about?" Todd questioned innocently, holding his ground against the larger man in front of him.

"Don't play dumb with me, you know what you did. Where? Is? He?" he ground out.

"I'm not lying, I seriously don't know what you're talking about!" Todd answered, keeping up a good, hard stare.

"Likely story," the man huffed. "Now where did he go? Did you let him out?"

"Are you talking about he kid you brought in here earlier?" the boy asked, realization dawning on him.

"What do you think?" the man growled angrily as he picked up the kid by his shirt and slammed him against the wall, holding him there as the boy gasped for breath. "Tell. Me. _Now_."

"I-I don't know," the boy sputtered, struggling to get out of the strong hold. The man moved his free hand around the boy's neck, successfully cutting off most of his oxygen level so that he couldn't even speak.

"Talk." the man said, slamming him against the wall once more, but now releasing the hand around Todd's neck so he could speak and catch his breath.

"I swear, I didn't do anything, honest," Todd tried again.

Dick felt bad, he didn't want something bad to happen to this kid just so he could protect himself, and it looked like Todd was already getting a hard time without this being added to it. He didn't know what to do. Robin told him to jump down and help him out, but Richard told him to get out while he still had a chance and that they would find him soon if he didn't hurry. Dick looked back down when he heard another pair of footsteps running down the hall.

"We got him!" the new man shouted eagerly.

"Where?" the first man asked.

"Grayson's in the air vents, but he didn't account for motion sensors," he said, and soon Dick heard a thump as the one dropped Todd, then he heard both of them come over to open one of the vents. Dick quickly started crawling away, unsure of where to go and feeling more trapped than ever. And suddenly, he wasn't feeling the effects of the sedative anymore as pure instinct kicked in and he made his way swiftly through the vents as he looked for an exit.

"Follow him!" the first man commanded.

"Already on it," the second man said. Dick assumed they had a portable tracker, which would make losing them harder if he stayed in the vents. He really had to get out of there, and fast.

Dick found a vent and quickly kicked it open before he flew out, losing all regard for stealth as he did so. How had he forgotten about the likelihood that they would have motion sensors? Why did he stay and listen to that argument for so long? Was he really hoping the boy would lead him out? They probably wouldn't have heard him moving, but maybe they would've. Either way, it seemed irrelevant now as he ran for his life, hoping to find an exit before the others found him.

_Yes, a door!_

The door was in sight, but the other two were right behind him. He was so close, he just had to get outside! Reaching the door, he sadly found it was locked. There were two doors separated by a small room, almost like a small vestibule, but to open the first one from the inside, you needed a passcode. A four digit pin was all that was keeping him from his freedom, and he had no way to hack it, and he doubted he would get it on the first try. In a desperate attempt to get out, he started throwing himself against the glass and screaming at the top of his lungs, but no matter how hard he hit the windows, it wasn't enough, and he doubted anyone was coming for him except the two men following him.

"Please! Someone call the police! Let me out!" Dick cried desperately, but the footsteps were almost upon him, so he turned and ran the other way.

It was useless, he was practically dead. So why did he keep screaming for help? He didn't even know why, but when they both grabbed him and pushed him to the ground, his screams only got louder. They were hitting him, trying to make him shut up, he guessed, but he wouldn't give in, not yet. He felt blood trickling from somewhere and he knew bruises were starting to form, but he didn't care anymore, and those were just something he observed rather than felt. They were trying to cover his mouth, but Dick was thrashing around too much for them to get a good grip without him being able to get them off. He continued to kick and punch, getting a few good hits in, but no matter what he did, it wasn't enough.

"Shut him up! What if someone hears?" he couldn't figure out which man was talking now, but he didn't care as he continued to work on escaping.

"What do you think I'm trying to do?" the other shouted back. Then, his hair was pulled back painfully, and his last attempt to keep his mouth free of the man's hold was gone as it was finally covered, although he still didn't stop his pleading. Right now his voice was the only tool he possessed, and he planned to use it to its fullest use in hopes of someone hearing him. He was so distracted, he didn't even notice the two were talking until he heard the one command someone in the distance to get something.

"Get me one of those collars!" the one above and behind him commanded.

Soon, he heard someone running off as the one man pushed his hand against Dick's mouth as he tried to stifle the continued screaming even more. And then before he knew it, one of the men let go and moved to his head. He felt something push against his neck, and then a buzzing noise like something was turning on.

"Okay, let go of 'im," the one who had put something on him ordered, and the other let go.

_Why are they letting me go?_

But Dick didn't even get the chance to push himself up as he heard another buzzing and then an electric charge went through his body. His eyes rolled back as he fell limp, all the fight finally leaving him. He vaguely remembered someone picking him up and carrying him off to who knows where, but that was it as he gave into unconsciousness.

.oOo.

Batman was at the watchtower, the monitor womb to be exact. Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Black Canary, and Zatara joined him, although he only requested Zatara's presence. He didn't really know the reasoning behind the others showing up, but he supposed the news about Dick Grayson's kidnapping and Robin being the ransom had spread.

Superman, Wonder Women, and Flash had all been at the tower when he arrived, but Zatara was at the mountain helping with training. So he had had to call there, which was how Black Canary found out, and he was sure the rest of the team knew by now as well. And even after Batman gave the five Leaguers a briefing on the situation, they had all decided to stay until the location was found.

"So you wish for me to perform a location spell?" Zatara asked, receiving a nod from Batman.

During Batman's investigation, he had had no luck with finding any clues that could lead to where Dick could be. He had checked the school, the ambulance, the site where it was found, and talked with the commissioner. Gordon and his team hadn't had any luck with tracing a signal either, and the interrogations weren't much of a success. As the night went on, Batman got an idea of how they could find the signal on the tape; by using a location spell. Normally, Batman would try to avoid asking for outside help so soon, but considering the situation and how much time was already wasted, he didn't have much of a choice.

"If you have the signal, why couldn't you track it?" Flash asked. "Was something blocking it?"

"I don't know, but I believe that to be the case. Although I'm not sure how they managed to pull that off." Batman answered. He had already tried the Batcomputer in the cave, and when he got to the tower, he also tried to find it on their computer with no luck. He just hoped Zatara would be able to find where the signal came from.

"It does seem odd," Wonder Woman voiced. "They did want Robin to find them, after all, but if you couldn't manage it, how did they expect Robin to do so?"

"Maybe they weren't." Batman pondered.

"Do you think that mentioning Robin was just a distraction to lead us in the wrong direction?" Superman observed.

"It's possible. They might've also been hoping that they would find Robin before Robin found them, meaning they wouldn't have to follow through on any promises they made about Dick's return." Batman suggested. The idea of that was only making him more angry and impatient, but he continued to keep a stoic expression as he waited for the system to finish so that they could begin.

"I'm ready, this shouldn't take long." Zatara announced, and he chanted his spell to locate where the signal came from. "There, that's the location."

Batman studied the spot and then nodded in agreement, "It should be easy enough to find."

"Did you need some help?" Black Canary offered, knowing that it must be hard on Batman, recalling other times when Robin or Dick had been taken and how angry Batman had been.

"No." Batman decided. "I can handle this, you don't need to be concerned with it."

"Yet you came to us," Wonder Women pointed out.

"Yes, and it's proven helpful. Besides, I didn't want to waste time when it wasn't something that was guaranteed." Batman stated.

"I'm glad I was able to help," Zatara said, receiving a nod of thanks from Batman.

"Just let us know if you need anything else," Wonder Woman reminded. "And could you let us know when you find him?"

"Of course," Batman agreed, although he hoped he wouldn't need help as he made his way back to the zeta tubes.

.oOo.

_Flash 04_

Flash walked out of the zeta tube as his designation was announced and was instantly met by Wally. Flash had actually been a little surprised to hear that Wally was still at the cave considering it was almost three in the morning, or maybe it was more surprising that the young speedster still planned on heading home. It was much more likely that his nephew wanted to talk as much information out of him as he could.

"Hey, kid, ready to go?" Flash asked. Wally had decided he would wait there and hang out with the rest of the team until he got back instead of heading home on his own. They had been watching a movie, but Wally was more interested in what Batman needed at the Watchtower and had been eagerly awaiting his uncle's return.

"Hey. What did Bats need? I think I heard something about a location spell? How does that work anyway? Not the point, did they find him?" Wally began to list off his questions at rapid speed that only his uncle could understand.

"We'll talk about it later on the way home," Flash explained in a normal voice speed, giving his nephew a reassuring smile as he saw the rest of the team starting to walk towards them.

"I'm staying at your place tonight, right?" Wally asked. They had made plans for Wally to spend the night tonight anyway, but if Uncle Barry was going to be on watchtower duty or helping out Batman, Wally knew he would probably be sent home. And being sent home meant he wouldn't be getting any updates until later tomorrow, or technically later today since it was already past four in the morning. Then again, most of the time when Dick went missing, he didn't find out until after it was over, same for Robin, so he might not hear anything new until Dick was back.

"Unless you made other plans with the Team." Wally shook his head. "Alright, just no patrol tonight."

"Can we at least go for a run? I need to move!" Wally exclaimed.

"Sure thing, kid, just put your uniform on first." Flash agreed.

"Got it," Wally nodded as he used his super-speed to change, and coming back dressed in costume. He gave a quick goodbye to his friends, and then they left through the loading garage so they could run home.

"So?" Wally, now dressed as Kid Flash, asked.

"Right, so I was at the tower when Bats showed up, and we were all surprised to hear his name announced, so Wonder Woman, Superman, and I went to check it out." Flash started to explain how and why Batman had asked for Zatara's help, and that yes, they believed they found Dick and Batman was on his way to pick him up right now.

"That's good," Kid Flash said once Flash had finished. Kid Flash hadn't seen the video, but Flash had given an overview and explained the more important details, like the ransom and threats behind it, but he left out most of the graphics. Kid Flash just couldn't stop thinking about the threats, though, and he couldn't keep himself from sharing his fear. "Uh, you don't think they'd do something to Dick when Batman shows up instead of Robin, do you?"

"He'll be fine, kid. They might try something, but Batman will be there and get him out before they can do any damage." Flash assured.

It was quiet for a while as Kid Flash continued to think. It was the first time all day he could really think about it as just himself and actually be able to voice his thoughts. The others weren't too worried, and they shouldn't be; it's Gotham business, and to them it was just another civilian they didn't know. They felt the same way about this kidnapping as they did when they had to protect Dr. Roquette. It wasn't like they were heartless, but it was a bad idea to get too close to a mission, they all knew that.

"Hey, where did you guys get the signal to track it from?" Kid Flash suddenly realized something about the location.

"The tape, why?" Flash asked, but he thought he knew where this was headed.

"It's just that it all seemed so planned out, do you think that they would've stayed in the same place they filmed it with the chance that they could be tracked?" Kid Flash continued, not to mention that someone could've heard Dick during the filming of the footage, having even more reason to want to leave.

"You have a point, they took a lot of precautions not to be tracked, but knowing that and how organized it all was, they could've moved to a different base." Flash pondered.

"Do you think that maybe they were hoping Batman would find their hideout on purpose?" Kid Flash gulped at the idea. _What if they did something to Dick? Or Batman? Or both?_

Flash picked up on his nephew's panic. It was possible that they planned on Batman trying to turn himself over instead of Robin, and maybe they were waiting for him. "It's definitely a possibility, especially if they moved Dick. I'll call his communicator and run it by him just in case."

Kid Flash felt a little bit easier knowing that Flash would check on the situation, and hopefully warn Batman of the possibility before it was too late. He knew Batman would normally already think of something like that, but things changed when Dick's life was on the line.

He stayed silent as Flash called for Batman over the communicator. That feeling was vanishing as he listened as Flash shouted into the communicator over and over again as it continued to come back with nothing but static.

"Maybe he just turned it off?" Kid Flash offered hopefully, but he knew too well that that wasn't the case.

"Feel like making a stop in Gotham?" Flash asked, seriousness washing over his face as he stopped talking into his comm. unit and picked up his speed. Kid Flash nodded as he too sped up and followed his uncle in the direction of the hideout.

.oOo.

Batman kept a tight grip on the wheel as he steered the car through the streets of Gotham and towards where Dick was being held captive. When he spotted the building, he jumped out of the Batmobile and started to observe and scan the building's surroundings, while also scanning for Dick's tracker that was on his utility belt. He couldn't see any vehicles, and it didn't seem like anyone was around either, but he was picking up on Dick's tracker, and also a silent alarm that just alerted anyone inside that he was there.

Not knowing what they would do with that information, Batman hurried over to the entrance. As he picked the lock on the door, he heard a scream, and he knew it was Dick's the second he heard it. It was the all too familiar scream that kept him up at night, the same one that broke his heart every time he heard it. So when he got the door open, he ran in expecting the worst, throwing away all other worries except for Dick.

It didn't take long for him to find Dick's jacket where the belt was hidden, but sadly Dick wasn't with it. The blazer from his school uniform was ripped and stained with drops of blood, and was that vomit? Batman grimaced at the sight, but he picked it up and found that Dick's utility belt remained untouched, which was a relief as he continued on with his search. Luckily, it wasn't a very big building, so finding the door was practically child's play.

Batman kicked the door open, but he didn't find what he was expecting. Instead, it was another video. Only, this was different from what he had watched earlier that day. This one's location was different, and it looked like Dick had tried to escape. The format looked like that from security feed, and he couldn't help but wonder if this was something that was happening right now. Worry filled him as the one man was handed something that looked like a type of collar and secured it around his baby's neck. They let him go only for a buzzing to sound before Dick's body started to spasm, and Batman knew it was because of an electric current coming from that collar. Dick was picked up and carried off as the electric shock finally rendered him unconscious.

"The child put up quite the fight, don't you agree?" the familiar computerized voice sounded across the room. Although, it sounded less like a computer that was reading off a document, and more like someone talking to him with their voice disguised.

"What did you do to him?" Batman demanded, looking around the room for the source of the sound. The footage was still on the screen, but the voice wasn't coming from anywhere near it.

"We merely used small electric charge to calm him down. You needn't concern yourself with him; he's already being taken care of." the voice answered. "We wouldn't just do something like that for no reason, though, so I assure you that it was completely necessary."

"How is doing_ that _necessary?" Batman questioned in a growl, secretly pressing the recorder on his belt as he did so. Even if he didn't get any useful answers, maybe he would be able to get a voice recognition by running it through the Batcomputer.

"If you must know, he made an escape attempt, so I arranged for the situation to be used to our advantage. And as a result, we know that those collars are doing what was promised." the voice answered casually.

"You're using him as a test subject?" Batman said in a threatening tone, daring them to answer.

"That wasn't our plan originally, and we already knew that they would work, so it was more of a test run to make sure it was the real thing. It shouldn't have to happen again, unless of course, someone else attempts to do something they shouldn't." the voice threatened, although it wasn't very assuring.

"And I suppose you're the one behind all of this?" Batman accused, deciding not to respond to the threat, but noting to be more cautious until he knew more.

"Correct you are, Detective," the feed was taken away and replaced by a black screensaver with a gray "Q" on it. "You may call me by my alias, Q."

"What exactly are you planning, "Q"?" Batman asked, but knew not to expect any kind of real answer.

"Sorry, that's a secret, and if you want to find out, you'll just have to keep playing." Q replied smoothly.

"I'm not in the mood for games." Batman stated.

"And I'm not in the mood to deal with people who refuse to follow the rules." Q countered, voice more firm than before. "I've made it clear what you have to do if you want the boy to be returned safely, and I don't see Robin anywhere, instead I just see you." Q told him.

"Then take me instead," Batman suggested, and he was completely serious and willing. He would go with Q if it meant Dick would be safe. "I'll turn myself over and go with you."

"Batman, my plan won't work if I take you; that would be too easy. Besides, those aren't the rules. In fact, you weren't even supposed to be here." Q's voice became darker. "I requested Robin, but apparently you didn't get the hint that you were not welcome. I didn't even think the two of you would be able to find this location."

"Then how did you expect Robin to find it?" Batman asked, a question that had been haunting him. "Were you really just planning on snatching him so you wouldn't have to follow through on your end?"

"We were prepared to do that if he did not cooperate, but I did intend on him finding us." Q replied honestly.

"Again, how was he supposed to manage that if you left no trace?" Batman continued.

"You're the detective, why don't you figure it out?" Q provoked, which received a growl from the Batman, which Q just laughed mockingly at. "But then again, I suppose a detective is nothing without his clues, is he?"

Q switched to the feed again, and Dick was currently unconscious and restrained once more as he lay limply in a room. "Now, I must be on my way, but your lesson still has to be learned so you don't attempt this again in the future."

Batman's eyes widened as he heard something that sounded like a gun go off and then yell of pain. It all went dark, both the screen and his vision as he became oblivious to his surroundings.

* * *

**So, how was it? Enjoying that cliffhanger? What do you think happened if anything at all? Can any of you guess who Todd is? I hope this chapter was okay, I'm not sure how I did with all the characters and how I portrayed them, so I'm sorry if it was a total miss. Favorite parts? Least favorite parts? No feelings whatsoever? I would love to hear anything you have to offer, and thank you for reading :)**

**Special thanks to these awesome people: Ladnik, coheed cutie, Wayward Hope, Cluster416, heroes-will-avenge, Alexandria-likethecityinEgypt (she's working on an amazing story right now called Lab Rat, go check it out if you're a Robin fan!), Nalash Polal Falayt, idpitsme, chibihyu, whitelilly812, Teleina, Natsume1111, nikkyjayne, Savy160, thebibliophileshavethephonebox, GenderBender25, IndiaMoore, PenguinLover28 (guest), The Shadow Keeper, Pottergirl3333, IrisLillyRose, mortalathena, Butterfly Crown, 17blanceri, Amy (guest), and Guest (guest)**

**Replies:**

**PenguinLover28: Thanks, I'm glad you liked the flashback, I wasn't sure about putting it in. How was Wally in this one? Was it what you were hoping for? **

**Amy: Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it! I hope I can continue to keep you on your toes, and as this chapter shows, more Wally is to come, but I'm not sure about the rest of the team yet.**

**Guest: Thanks! I'm glad you liked it :)**

**Until next time**

**-TheImaginativeFox**

**(Reviews please?)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

* * *

Kid Flash knew they were in the right place for a few reasons. The first, and pretty obvious one, was the Batmobile, which was parked at an angle surrounded by a few skid marks from the abrupt stop, showing Batman's eagerness to get inside. The next was that the door was wide open, and Kid Flash could just picture Batman running through in hopes of finding Dick inside. The last clue was a room off to the side, were Kid Flash came to a sudden, jerky stop at the sight of Batman laying unmoving on the ground.

"Batman!" Kid Flash shouted in shock. Flash zipped passed him and over to the unconscious man, immediately checking Batman's pulse.

"Is he okay?" Kid Flash asked, making an appearance right next to his uncle.

"I don't know, but he doesn't seem to be in shock, so that's good. There isn't any sign of injury, although he's still unresponsive," Flash trailed off, showing his confusion.

There didn't seem to be any reason for Batman to be unconscious, and there were no signs of a struggle, there weren't even any signs that someone else had been in the building! Maybe he inhaled something, and if that was the case, it could be poisonous.

"Kid, can you call Penny-One and let him know we're on our way?" Flash finally spoke. Kid Flash gave a nod in agreement, and so Flash continued, "I'm going to look around the rest of the building."

Kid Flash didn't question what Flash was going to look for as he took Batman's communicator that he was handed. As Flash ran off, Kid Flash started speaking into the communicator, "Kid Flash to the Batcave."

There was that static they had heard earlier when trying to reach Batman.

"Penny-One, can you hear me?" he tried again, only to be met with the same results. Even though the communicator looked fine, he figured it was possible that it was damaged and that was why it didn't seem to be working. He thought he would test his idea by using his own communicator to try to contact someone, but was greeted with the same static that Batman's gave off.

All thought was cut off by the sound of his uncle yelling at him and running back into the room. "Bomb! Get out, now!" he shouted urgently as he picked up Batman, giving Kid Flash a push forward.

They ran out of the building, and it wasn't long before Kid Flash heard the explosion going off in the background. He turned his head and saw the flames dancing across the building, the smoke dark and thick as it rose above the fire below. He looked towards Flash for some clarification on what just happened, and he took the hint and started to explain.

"I heard the beeping when I was looking around," Flash started. "The bomb was remote start, too, so whoever triggered it knew we were there, and I was worried that it would alert them if I started messing with it, in turn having it go off instantly. I figured it was safer to just get the two of you out."

"No kidding," Kid Flash breathed. "Do you think they had cameras watching everything?"

"I didn't see any, but I'm willing to bet there probably were a few, and maybe even motion detectors or a silent alarm," Flash replied.

Kid Flash nodded subconsciously to show that he was paying attention as they continued to run towards the cave, and then Batman's communicator went off. "Hello?" Kid Flash spoke into it, surprised that it was working, even if it still had a bit of static in the background, he could still easily hear what was happening on the other end.

"Kid Flash?" came Alfred's surprised voice. "May I ask how you came across Batman's communicator?"

"I'll explain when we get to the cave with Batman," Kid Flash promised. "You might want to prep the med bay, by the way."

"What happened?" Alfred pressed. "His vitals check out okay, but a while ago I wasn't getting any signal from him at all."

"That's one of the reasons we came by." Kid Flash said, cave now in sight. "Mind opening the cave?"

"Of course, Sir," Alfred nodded, and soon the two of them were standing next to him, cowls pushed down, with Bruce lying on one of the beds.

Seeing that Alfred had the situation under control, Barry turned to Wally and asked, "I thought you called Alfred when we were still in the building?"

"I tried to, but all that came through was static, just like when we tried to reach Batman before." Wally explained.

"Something must have been blocking the signal around the hideout, and I'm willing to bet it was the same thing that managed to make sure the footage wasn't tracked to its filming location," Barry said. "Alfred, when did his vitals go off line and then come back on?"

"Well, it just showed that he had gone offline, which isn't unusual for him to do when he believes someone could hack into the radio feed. I believe this occurred around eleven o' clock," Alfred recalled, taking a blood sample from Bruce and running it through a machine as he continued, "and it came back on around eleven thirty. I checked his tracker to find that he was going at a very rapid speed without the use of the Batmobile, so I was already concerned when I tried to reach him."

"Sorry to worry you," Wally apologized.

"No harm done," Alfred smiled comfortingly. "Now, I believe you said you would explain what happened?"

.oOo.

"Report," Q looked up to see the six screens with the blurred white pictures that she knew to be the members of the Light. She normally didn't feel nervous when she spoke with them, but then again, normally things went as planned.

"Where do you want me to begin? With the boy or the Batman?" she asked calmly.

"The Batman, if you would," L-1 said. "Perhaps you could enlighten us as to why you felt the need to blow up one of our buildings?"

"Well, I had hoped Robin would be meeting some of my personnel there tonight so that we could move on to the next step by morning, but instead Batman found the building." Q started, but was quickly interrupted by one of the council members.

"How could he have possibly done that?" L-6 interjected angrily. "She must have done something wrong, the device that was planted around the building should've blocked all signals outside of the network until late afternoon tomorrow."

"Yes, it _should_ have," L-2 agreed, "but somehow the signal was tracked despite our precautions. What I would like to know is was it working when you spoke with the detective?"

"Batman? Yes, the signal was still blocked when I spoke with him," she assured, making it clear that no one else picked up on their conversation.

She explained what they had talked about, and how the Flash and his sidekick had shown up not too much later and had gotten Batman out before the bomb detonated. By the end of her explanation, they seemed alright with her decision to destroy the first base, and decided that she made good use of the unplanned confrontation.

"It would appear the great Batman needed help from the Justice League," L-4 pondered.

"Will that be a problem?" Q asked.

"Not at the moment, but if we don't handle this soon, we might have the Justice League investigating in Gotham, and we can't have them interfering." L-1 answered, and Q nodded in agreement, after all, Batman and Robin caused her enough headache on their own. "You'll also need to find a new place for Robin to meet you, and soon."

"I already have a few places in mind," Q said, and she did, all she needed to do now was get the message to Robin. "I'll have him brought to my lab, and then he'll trade places with Grayson."

"Using Robin as ransom for Wayne's son was good thinking on your part; it had the reaction we were hoping for," L-3 mentioned. "Deciding to take Grayson instead of Wayne was good thinking on your part."

"Taking Wayne would've been too easy. Besides, it's much more fun this way." She replied. "Besides, after everything Wayne put me through, taking Grayson gave him a taste of the suffering he put me through."

"It has some poetic justice to it: he took away your career, so you took away his son." L-2 thought aloud.

"Speaking of the child," L-2 spoke up. "Perhaps you would could explain what happened with him and the missing supplies form the shipment tonight?"

They all looked at her expectantly, and so Q gathered her thoughts and began to explain, "Jason Todd was handling the delivery, but was running behind, so we didn't have the inhibitor collars or all of the new security equipment when Grayson first arrived. Because of that, we had to put Grayson in one of the other holding rooms, and we had a guard outside the door as an extra precaution, even though he was still under the effects of the sedative.

"Anyway, Todd ran into some trouble and lost some of the shipment. He was tossed around a bit and ended up at the free clinic and Thompkins patched him up. But he did make use of the time by grabbing the sedatives and medical supplies he usually sells to us. Todd finally arrived with the delivery, and soon after that we found out Grayson had escaped. I still don't know how he got out of those restraints."

"Wasn't the boy an acrobat before Wayne took him in?" L-3 put in during the short pause.

"Yes, he was in a traveling circus with his family, and then after the incident that resulted in their deaths, Wayne took him in," L-2 explained. "He probably picked up some stuff from the escape artist there."

Embarrassment washed over Q; how could she forget something like that? She had known that he had been in a circus, but she hadn't really thought about it that much, or that he could've had some training from an escape artist. Even though the restraints had worked fine earlier, she now assumed it was due to the fact that he had been given several sedatives throughout the day, not to mention he had been working off the effects of the pain inducer.

"That makes sense," L-1 agreed, "although, I hadn't thought about that until now. Q, you may continue."

And she did. Q explained how they had taken control of the situation, and it actually proved useful as they were able to show the security footage to the Batman, which helped in showing him how serious they were about this.

"And you say you still have all of the footage?" L-4 checked, and with a nod from Q, L-4 continued. "Good. You should make another video, and then send it to the news station to broadcast."

The other members agreed, and Q asked, "What do you want me to say?"

"Tell them they now have a time-limit: Saturday at sundown," L-3 suggested.

"And what do you want me to do with Grayson if Robin doesn't show up then?" Q asked, recalling that they hadn't really said what they would do with the boy one way or the other.

"Ooh, ooh!" L-7 chanted, getting excited. "Don't we still owe Joker for that whole Injustice League thing?"

"Yes," L-6 confirmed. "But we're still working on getting him out of Arkham, so I don't think he'll be asking for his favor until then, so we don't need to worry about it at the moment."

"Why do you mention it?" L-2 asked, but Q was already catching on to what L-7 was thinking.

"Well, if you want to get rid of Wayne's brat," L-7 started again, that same excited tone returning, "why don't we just let the Joker have him?"

.oOo.

Bruce suddenly became aware of voices around him, but he couldn't make out what they were saying, or who was speaking for that matter. He felt foggy, and couldn't remember what had happened. And to add to his confusion, he felt an oxygen mask over his face and heard the sound of a heart monitor. He wasn't too alarmed by this when he recognized the familiar noise and feel of the Batcave. Bruce quietly pushed himself into a sitting position, looking around to find Alfred and two speedsters looking down over something—his communicator—in concentration.

"What happened?" Bruce asked, as he pulled the oxygen mask away from his face and began walking over to the small group.

"Master Bruce, how are you feeling?" Alfred asked.

"I'm fine," Bruce answered almost automatically, and he did feel fine, just confused. "Now, could someone tell me what happened?"

Bruce saw the three of them look at each other quickly before Barry spoke up, "What's the last thing you remember?"

Bruce could remember what had happened, but the key details were missing, almost like he was just recalling what someone had told him had happened, and he hadn't actually experienced it himself. Images flashed through his mind, but none of them were vivid enough that he could gather something valuable from them, and he wasn't able to put them to a certain time frame.

"Master Bruce?" Alfred asked.

"Just let me think for a minute," the man in question replied in frustration, something Alfred picked up on all too easily.

"Sir, perhaps you would like to sit back down? I could fetch some tea, and we could fill each other in on the missing details." Alfred suggested calmly. "After all, it seems that one of the purposes of the drug that you inhaled was to disorient you, and I don't believe it has fully worn off yet, which is probably why you are having a difficult time trying to remember what happened."

"Inhaled?" Bruce repeated, but as they were about to explain, he spoke up, "Wait, I think I remember that. Something came from the air vents, and then everything went dark. Then there was a sound. It was loud, almost like a blast."

Why couldn't he remember what had caused the sound? He should be able to remember a detail as simple as that!

"As we brought you out, a bomb went off, that might explain it," Barry suggested, and at Bruce's questioning look, he continued. "It was set to explode by remote, and we suspect that someone knew we were there, and that's why it was counting down when we got there, maybe even when you first got there. We think they might've had cameras or motion detectors; something that they could use to alert them if someone was there."

Could that have been the sound he had heard? The sound of an explosion didn't sound right, but it was close.

Bruce shook his head, "No, I don't think that's what I heard." If he could just here it again, wait!

Bruce quickly turned on his heel and went over to where he knew his utility belt would be. He could hear them asking what he was doing, but he didn't stop until he got to his destination. He was about to grab the belt and look for the recording device, but then he spotted a stained blazer, the same one Dick wears as part of his school uniform. Bruce absentmindedly found the hidden pocket, finding Dick's Robin utility belt, just as he had before . . .

Seeing the article of clothing made his fragments of memories so real, and he felt a rush of adrenaline go through him. Things seemed so much clearer now, and he was finally able to recognize the cause of the blast: a gunshot.

"The sound, it was a gunshot, and when it went off there was a scream that sounded like Dick's." Bruce explained, trying to stay calm, but panic was obvious in his eyes as he faced the others.

"Are you sure?" Barry asked, hoped. "There wasn't even a sign that anyone other than you had been there, let alone that someone was shot."

"I know," Bruce was getting annoyed, "that's because no one was there. I spoke with Q—the person responsible for all of this this—through a video connection and was also shown security footage of Dick."

"What kind of footage?" Barry questioned, slightly hesitant.

"Dick had an escape attempt," Bruce said, and was a little proud that Dick made it so far considering the state he was in, "and they weren't too happy about it."

"And what did Q have to say?" Alfred asked, sensing the tension and knowing that it wasn't a good time to discuss the footage in detail.

"Q wasn't pleased that I showed up instead of Robin," Bruce started. "I didn't get very much information, but from what I can recall of the footage, Dick was put in a room separate from the rest of the base, and if they have a security system along with the other tech we've seen, I'm guessing this place is bigger than the first base. I did get a recording of the conversation, so I'm going to see what I can do to get a voice recognition."

"What do you need us to do?" Barry asked.

"_I_ need to look into this Q person and then come up with a plan to get Dick out safely." Bruce explained. "Alone."

"But we can help!" Wally yelled in frustration, surprising Bruce as he had been quietly watching the argument up until now.

"I'll handle it," Bruce knew they were capable, but at the moment they would only slow him down.

"Going in as Batman didn't really get us anywhere last time," Wally pointed out sharply. "Not to mention the fact that they want _Robin_, and I really doubt you can fool anyone as Robin."

"Wally." Barry warned, putting a hand on his nephew's shoulder, but Wally just shrugged it off.

"And you think you can?" Bruce replied, giving the red head a glare, but the kid didn't even react, he just kept going.

"Yeah, maybe, if that's what it takes. Dick isn't going to be able to get out of there, and even with his Robin gear it would be difficult." Wally rationalized.

"So what makes you so certain you could get out of there once Dick is out?" Bruce questioned, voice serious. He hadn't even thought of finding someone to pretend to be Robin, even if it was only a distraction. Martian Manhunter was off world, and Miss Martian's shapeshifting abilities wouldn't be able to do this yet, but he did have something from Wayne Tech that might just work.

"If Dick is safe, that's all that matters." Wally argued, and Bruce could tell he was serious, but also knew there was no way he would send anyone into that sort of situation without preparations, even if it was for Dick.

"I'm not going to send you out there as some sacrifice." Bruce stated.

"I didn't say I was singing up as one either," Wally pointed out. "Besides, I could figure it out when the time comes."

"Nothing good can come from that," Bruce said in an annoyed voice. They couldn't just run into something without a plan in place, hadn't they learned that lesson enough times already? He knew he had given that lecture more times than he would prefer. "If you want to help, we'll need to come up with a strategy."

Most of the anger left the teen's eyes as he asked, "What did you have in mind?"

* * *

**What did you think? Love it hate it? What do you think of Wally covering as Robin? And what about the knew knowledge about Q? Any thoughts about her trying to join the Light? Let me know, and thanks so much for reading this :)**

**Special thanks to: **

**steelec1,** **Halatia Artemis Louise Potter,** **Unanomous,** **chessie517,** **Mal Loup,** **alexisbelt,** **pearlynlsw,** **Kisaka,** **siblingloveF2,** **codeblue2102,** **meladi1,** **soarin'high, ****elec1****,** **superdupertrooper****,** **siblingloveF2,** **TheShyShadow,** **codeblue2102, Mickey's Girl (guest), Savy160, mortalathena, Butterfly Crown, JustWhelmed, IndiaMoore, Pottergirl3333, Nalash Polal Falayt, The Shadow Keeper, PenguinLover28 (guest), heroes-will-avenge, Guest (guest), Sieg7 (guest), and guest (guest) for the follows, favorites, and reviews!**

**Replies:**

**Mickey's Girl: I'm so glad you like it! Poor Flashes, but I hope you liked how it turned out for them. Yes, Q is an OC, and I liked that part too, so I'm glad it was worth keeping in. Hope you liked this chapter, and I'll try to update soon :)**

**PenguinLover28: Thanks! I'm glad you liked how I did Wally. That's really nice of you to say, and sorry not sorry about the cliffhanger.**

**Guest: When I first got the idea to include them more, I was a little worried, so it's nice to hear that you like it :)**

**Sieg7: Thank you so much for your nice review! Yeah, I apologize about the not so frequent updates, but I promise I won't give up on this story! I'm not sure how many more chapters, but I think we're about halfway through, if not more than. But you never know, I might get another idea, making the story longer. Thanks again :)**

**guest: Thank you, hope you enjoyed the update! **

**Thanks again, until next time**

**-TheImaginativeFox**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: Still own nothing, but if anyone wants to hand the rights to the show over, I wouldn't say no**

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_"What did you have in mind?" _

The rest of the conversation had been a long one, and Wally couldn't even tell you what all was said if he tried. All he knew was that somehow he had convinced _the Batman_ to let _him_ help. He didn't even know what had given him the great idea to open his big mouth. He had been doing a fine job of keeping said big mouth shut while Uncle Barry and Bruce were arguing, but as time went on, the harder it got and the words just slipped. So now here he was, listening to Bruce explain his plan. Well, as far as disguise went.

"This," Bruce started, holding something out that Wally didn't recognize, "is an EMP Mask."

"What does it do?" Wally asked as he took it in his hands, beginning to examine it. The mask was made out of some webbing with tiny blue beads across it, and upon closer inspection, Wally noted that those beads were computerized electromagnetic conductors.

"It can refract light around the wearer's head, artificially altering their appearance." Bruce explained.

"So if I put it on, I'll be able to look like Dick?" Wally asked, and Bruce nodded in confirmation.

"It's still in some of the testing stages, but yes, it should," Bruce answered. "That along with the costume shouldn't cause them to question anything too much, especially if we can take care of this quickly."

_If_. If he could pull it off. There were lots of factors to pulling off Robin, even if it was just a one-time thing. There was an expectation that being Robin held, and Wally knew there was no way he would be able to get all of those techniques and fighting skills down in just a few hours. After all, they had been accumulated over years of training and working with the Batman, not hours. And if that wasn't enough pressure, Wally was still nervous about the height and voice difference. However, he had a few things on his side to help with that. Like, even though he was significantly taller than Dick, Q wouldn't have the real Boy Wonder to compare him to. That went for the voice, too, he supposed, plus he could always try vibrating his vocal chords to change his voice. He had to admit, he was still having a bit of difficulty with that skill, but it was still a possibility.

"Well, put it on." Bruce commanded, bringing Wally out of his thoughts.

Wally took the mask and slipped it over his head, pressing the small device to the mask's side, and it kind of tickled when it was activated. "Did it work?" Wally asked, and judging by the look on Bruce's face, he was right.

"See for yourself," Bruce replied, handing Wally a mirror.

"Whoa," Wally breathed as he examined his features. He really did look like Dick, or rather, he looked like Robin. Even the hair was right! Wally smirked, and as he looked in the mirror, Dick's smirk starred back at him. The mask was perfectly following his facial movements, this was beyond cool! "How did you come up with this?"

"Lucius did most of it, actually," Bruce admitted. "It makes for a great disguise, and even if you get cut on the face, the mask won't disable."

"How do you disable it?" Wally asked, wondering if the image would stay or fade away if he took it off. "Do you just push the device against it again?"

"That or just take it off," Bruce explained.

Wally took it off and watched as the image faded and the mask returned to the webbing with the small, blue beads.

"And you can use this to look like anyone?" Wally asked.

"Pretty much anything, as long as it's in the programming." Bruce explained.

"Uncle Barry has to see this." Wally said, knowing how much his Uncle would like to examine it to see how it worked.

"He already did." Bruce started. "I showed it to him last night after you went up to bed."

Right. Alfred had suggested they go to bed and get a few decent hours of sleep before sunrise, and even though Wally took him up on the offer, he knew Bruce and Barry had stayed up a while longer arguing over the idea of him going out as Robin. The two had gone over strategies and possible outcomes or situations, along with ways Wally could get out of them. They had gone over a lot of those with Wally after breakfast, it was a bit overwhelming, but hopefully it proved useful when the time came.

"Any other cool tech you showed him?" Wally asked hopefully, but then his stomach started to grumble. Then again, food didn't sound like a bad idea. When was the last time he ate anyway? It was more than an hour ago, that was for sure. "Um, do you think we could take a quick break for some lunch?"

"Alfred is probably making some right now," Bruce said, and so the two put away the EMP mask and headed upstairs where they found Barry already waiting at the table. Wally noticed it had gotten quieter in the cave, but he wasn't really sure where Alfred and Barry had went.

"How'd it go?" Uncle Barry asked.

"We still have to work out some more details and strategies to use, but so far things have gone smoothly." Bruce answered calmly. "And your own tasks?"

Alfred and Barry had been working on a few adjustments to one of Dick's spare Robin uniforms. Just little things so that it would fit him better, and then finding a way to put his Kid Flash uniform in it so that he could make a quick change if the situation called for it.

"Pretty good." Barry started. "We found a way to make everything work. Although, I still want to try to find a way that we can still communicate with Wally without Q or the signal blocker interfering."

"Agreed." Bruce nodded in thought. "Maybe we can try to hack their system, or even insert a virus to shut it down without them knowing."

"Would we be able to test it?" Barry asked.

"It's possible, but we won't know for sure until he's using it in the field." Bruce stated.

It was slowly dawning on Wally that he was really doing this. Not only that, but that he would be doing a lot of it on his own. The others were trusting him with this, and he just hoped that he could pull through, especially without his speed. He couldn't really remember going on a mission and not using his powers, and even though he had trained without them before, that was totally different than doing it in the field.

"Master Bruce," Alfred entered the room, importance written in his voice and on his face, "someone is on the phone who wishes to speak with you."

Bruce stood up quickly and took the phone from Alfred, "Hello, this is Bruce Wayne, who is this?" a moment of silence and then an angry expression. Wally watched as Bruce quickly started walking towards his study as he asked, "And what exactly do you mean by favor?"

By Bruce's words and actions, Wally's suspicions were confirmed; the kidnappers were on the other line. Wally, Barry and Alfred all followed Bruce as he headed towards the Batcave. When they got down there, Bruce turned on some sort of device and put the phone on speaker. He motioned for everyone to be quiet as he clicked "record and track".

"I don't understand what this has to do with Dick." Bruce said, speaking for the first time since leaving the dining room.

"The blueprints have nothing to do with him per se, but if you wish to keep him alive and well, I would suggest getting them to me." The voice was the same computerized one they had heard, so this must be Q.

"How did you even know about those blueprints? Most of those projects were never even released to the public." Bruce was trying to stay calm, but his hands were curled into tight fists, his knuckles going white.

"And such a shame, don't you think?" Q asked, and Wally was pretty sure he was trying to aggravate Bruce on purpose. "I'm interested in both old and current projects; keep things interesting. Maybe Dick would like to help me, he's smart, right? But he's such a cute kid, it would be a _shame_ if there was a _lab accident_, wouldn't you agree?"

"Leave him alone," Bruce said firmly, the "or else" hanging in the air.

"Well, it wouldn't be my fault. If we don't have the notes, prototypes, or blueprints, we would have to make so many guesses and mistakes along the way. It would also be very time consuming, and someone might just slip up. It comes at a price, but I suppose the end goal would be worth it." Q reasoned.

Bruce paused, unsure of what to say next, which was something Wally didn't see too often. "I'm not sure how fast I could get them to you, no one's even there, so I would have to make a few calls before I could even go find them."

"Listen, we can make this easy or hard, but either way, I will get them. If you make this quick and easy, I'll allow you to speak to Dick. Although, I'm not sure if he'll be able to talk back at the moment." Q said casually.

Wally felt his uncle squeeze his shoulder gently, and he stopped shaking, something he hadn't realize he had been doing.

"What did you do to him?" Bruce asked in a low growl, but they all knew it was a confirmation that Dick had been shot. Although, if he wasn't in a good enough condition to speak, that meant they didn't have much time left. "Why wouldn't he be able to speak?"

"I bet you would really like to know that, wouldn't you? Maybe almost as much as I would like to know where you're keeping those projects?" it sounded as if Q was enjoying this, and that made Wally feel sick to his stomach. "Now, I'll ask again, will you be able to bring the information to me?"

"Yes, I'll get them for you." Bruce agreed. "Could I speak to Dick? Please?"

"Then what insurance will I have?" Q asked.

"You'll still have him, won't you?" Bruce said impatiently.

"You have a point, and this did go better than expected." Q began to hum in thought. "How about, you get me the information I asked for, but you can see him on the news in a few minutes? Maybe if you do your part quickly, you can still talk to him." And then Q's end went silent.

"Damn it!" Bruce shouted, slamming his fist down on the table. He slouched down in the chair, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose as he let out a sigh. Then, before anyone could approach him, he started searching through the computer. "Someone turn on a news station. Now!"

"What are you looking for?" Alfred asked while choosing a news station that was currently giving a traffic report.

"There's a connection between those projects, I just know it. And it's something that both Bruce Wayne and Batman are involved with." Bruce said. "Q wants me to know who they are. They want me to remember something from years ago. The talk we had last night, she said something like 'A detective is nothing without his clues'. I'm just missing a clue that's right in front of me."

"Who's that?" Wally asked as a face was pulled up on the screen.

"This is our main suspect. Melisa K. Farrell, age 34, an ex-scientist and inventor for Wayne Technologies." Bruce started, opening the file to read through.

"Whoa," Wally breathed looking at some of her work. "What did she do to tick you off? She had a lot of credentials, she would seem like a good asset to have."

"She was. Until she started trying to see how far she could go." Bruce's voice got darker, then he pulled up her criminal record. "As time went on, the more risk she started taking, and the more severe the risks would get. Not to mention she would work on projects that were never approved or ones that were only partially approved. After I found out about everything, I didn't allow her to lead any projects. It seemed to be going well, although I still kept a close eye on her.

"Later, I found out she was coming back after hours to work on the ones I had cancelled, and then other ones that were never approved. One in particular was Project Q. The idea was to administer a serum into someone and put them in a sort of trance so one could brainwash them. When I confronted her about it, she tried to fight the idea to help criminals get a kick-start on rehabilitating. After that, I had her fired and she was pressed with even more charges. She successfully hid from the police for almost two weeks, and evidence was found that she was stealing from several labs in the area, including Wayne Labs.

"She snuck back into Wayne Labs for what would be her last big experiment, which didn't go as she expected. It accidentally caused an explosion that released a chemical she was still in the process of testing. It mixed with several others, and a lot of people were hurt by it. Batman and Robin were involved with the case, and Robin was responsible for finding her hideout where she was keeping her other projects hidden. That confrontation alone would explain why she would target Robin.

"She was arrested almost a year ago; I never knew she had escaped, in fact, it says she's still there now." Bruce said.

Uncle Barry was about to say something when static came across the television. When it cleared, Q's insignia appeared and she began to speak: "I have an announcement to make."

.oOo.

Dick woke up and knew something wasn't right. He was in pain, that much was obvious, but he couldn't concentrate to figure out where exactly the pain was coming from. He also felt kind of weird, like he had been drugged, and whatever it was, it was familiar. He quickly figured out it was a type of painkiller, although not the really strong stuff Alfred would usually give him, but not an OTC drug either.

Then, his brain told him it was his shin that was sending the pain signals, and the more alert he became, the more it hurt. He tried to move to get a better look at it, but found he couldn't move anything below his neck. He. Couldn't. Move. Dick started to panic as his attempts to move proved useless. He was kidnapped, in pain, and did he mention that he couldn't move!

Someone started to enter the room, and Dick tensed. As the door opened he got a good look at the person and he instantly recognized him as the guy from earlier. Dick wasn't sure whether he should be more or less worried, but he decided not to think about it too much.

The man didn't greet him like last time, instead he gave him a glare before pulling out some medical supplies and settling himself down by Dick's injured leg. Dick wanted to ask him what he was going to do, but found that he couldn't talk, which didn't exactly comfort him.

"You know," the man, Dick remembered was previously known as Peter, started, "you got us all into a lot of trouble last night. That's why you have that collar thing. It prevents movement from below the neck, or at least that's the setting it's on now. It can also turn off speech, among other things."

_Where did they find something like that? I didn't even notice I was wearing a collar! _

"Alright, I'm just going to change the dressing on your leg." the man announced.

Dick tried to get a better look at said leg, but he could only move his head so much. Although, he knew when the man started, not by the movements or sounds, but because he could feel the man unwrapping the bandage. He could feel some of the bandaging tug at his skin, and as his leg was jostled by the action, even more pain seared through him. The pain caused him to suck in a deep breath, and the man looked up to give him a sympathetic look.

"Yeah, gunshot wounds suck, but you didn't really give us much of a choice." the man shrugged sadly.

Dick couldn't tell how he felt about the guy. He obviously wasn't going to help him escape or disobey orders for him, but he also didn't like to do things mindless. He needed a purpose, and he didn't really mind doing the dirty work. He made conversation with him, but Dick couldn't figure out why. Was he just bored? Was he bipolar? Or was he trying to keep Dick calm? He didn't know, but it was something to think about.

"Shit," the man breathed, and Dick felt something warm trailing down his leg just before the man reached for some more gauze. "It started bleeding again." the man updated.

Dick didn't really care about the blood. Of course it was a problem, but Dick was more concerned with how much it hurt. He realized that it was a mix of a few kinds of pains. It was sharp, and it burned, but then it also started to become a sort of pulsing pain. If this was what it felt like with some painkillers in his system, he really didn't want to feel it without any in his system.

"Okay, I'll be back in about an hour to give you another dose of painkillers." the man said after finishing the job. He stood and left the room, and Dick was almost a little disappointed that he wasn't offered anything to drink this time, because for once, he actually would've taken him up on the offer. His throat was killing him, and he knew a coughing fit was becoming inevitable.

Dick sighed. He was getting tired again, but the pain was kind of preventing him from falling asleep. There was also the realization that he had no chance of escaping now. He would just have to wait it out. He began to wonder what kind of plan Bruce was coming up with to get him out of this. Whatever it was, he just hoped it was soon.

_Please hurry, Bruce._

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**I'm not entirely happy with how this chapter came out, but I didn't want to spend anymore time on it, so yeah, any thoughts on it? Do you think Bruce's guess about Q is right? Do you think Wally will be ready in time? Do you think Dick will be able to hold on much longer? Anything you really liked? Anything you really hated? Ideas or guesses for future chapters? Let me know! **

**Special thanks to: ****TeamFireGirl,** **Crystal Lilac,** **beautifulcrimsonrose,** **Ash9,** **auPHE,** **dlsky,** **fangirl-insomniac,** **Em Phantom, poppypatch2010, lulu911, mortalathena, IndiaMoore, meladi1, PenguinLover28 (guest), JustWhelmed, Pottergirl3333, The Shadow Keeper, Alexandria-likethecityinEgypt, Guest (guest), Butterfly Crown, Anonymous-Nerds-Unite, and Guest (guest, the latest one) for all of the follows, favorites, and reviews! They mean so much to me :)**

**Replied:**

**PenguinLover28: Hi! Yup, more Wally stuff to come! Yeah, I thought so, too. I wasn't sure how it would take, but I figured I would give it a try anyway. You know, one time Robin (Dick Grayson) dressed up like Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) to make sure her dad didn't find out and put an end to her vigilante career. Thanks for the review :)**

**Guest: I'm glad you like Q, and thanks so much for taking the time to review :)**

**Guest (latest one): Thanks, hope you liked the update :)**

**Until next time**

**-TheImaginativeFox **


	10. Chapter 10

**Miss me? I'm not going to waste time with excuses, so I'll just say sorry for the wait. It's a little longer this time (so far second longest chapter in the story). Oh, and we've reached 125 followers and passed 130 reviews, so thank you so much, it makes me so happy that so many of you are enjoying this story! And we've reached 10,000 views, you guys rock :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, don't rub it in**

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They were running out of time, and there was still so much to do. They needed someone to check Blackgate Penitentiary and see what really happened to Melissa Ferrell, aka, Q. They still needed to go over a few strategies to use and explain a few more gadgets to Wally before he could go out and try to get Q's attention. This was going to be a long day, and he was just getting started.

Bruce pushed those thoughts away as he focused on his current assignment: working on the project Q requested. He and Lucius were at Wayne Tech working on it, and they had found all of them, including the prototypes. They came up with an idea for the prototypes to short circuit in a way that wouldn't be obvious until it was put to use. They also created a bug to put into the files that held all of the research for the project, which would make the file look intact until it was clicked on, at which point it would be unusable. All of these would be turned on by a remote control, that way if Q wanted to look at them beforehand, she wouldn't be able to see it coming. Or at least, that was the idea.

"Do you think it will work?" Bruce asked after they had finished.

"I'm sure everything will go smoothly," Lucius assured. "Besides, even if Q is expecting us to do something like this, the defense mechanisms we added will prevent it from being detected by other devices."

"You're right, the drop off should go as planned." Bruce agreed, and it wasn't a lie, the _drop off_ would go just fine, it was what could happen afterwards that bothered him. He didn't think Q would kill Dick; she still needed Robin. Although, he wasn't sure how she would react to being tricked. She might very well kill Dick and still look for Robin, maybe taking more victims until she got what she wanted, and more leverage along the way. All he knew was that he couldn't wait to get some answers, and Batman was good at getting answers.

"Bruce, it's going to be okay, we just have to take it one step at a time." Lucius assured.

"Speaking of time," Bruce looked at his phone to check the time. "We have thirty minutes to drop this stuff off. I should get going."

"Good luck, and let me know if I can do anything else." Lucius waved as Bruce packed up the prototypes and flash drive.

"Thanks. I'll keep you updated." Bruce promised, and then he was back in his car and driving to the location Q had sent him ten minutes ago. He would have enough time, but it would be close.

His mind drifted to Q's "announcement", which had been broadcasted shortly after their phone call. The footage of Dick being shot was played, and a time limit was given. They, or rather Robin, had until seven o'clock that night. He had to go willingly and find them, and if they had to use force to take him in, the deal was off, just like before. Q had explained that she would have several people waiting for him in several different locations, and all Robin had to do was look. If Batman or any cops showed up, Dick Grayson wouldn't be let go and she would still be targeting Robin. That was all Q had said, but she had threatened that that would only be the beginning if Robin didn't turn himself in.

God, Bruce didn't even want to think about what would happen if they didn't pull this off, and more specifically, what would happen to Dick. Bruce really needed to hear his voice. Pulling into his destination, he realized that that could happen very soon.

Getting out of the car, he looked more closely at the building. He wasn't sure what he was expecting, but a gas station wasn't it, and definitely not one that appeared to still be in business.

"Hello?" Bruce called as he opened the door, glad that it was unlocked.

No one answered.

He walked around, not really sure what to look for. Making his way towards the back, he spotted a door by the slushy machines. He couldn't help but note how sticky the floor was next to said slushy machines. When was the last time he had been in a gas station, anyway?

Opening the door, he wasn't sure whether to be relieved or nervous when he found the familiar screen saver on it.

"Nice of you to finally show up, Bruce." Q, or rather, Melisa said.

"I still have a few minutes," he pointed out.

"I suppose you do, but still, I don't like waiting." She claimed. "Did you bring everything?"

"It's all right here," he held up the bag. "It took a while to find everything, especially the prototypes. I hope you didn't intend for me to fix them up, too."

"No, I didn't want you messing with the project, I would like them just as you found them. Besides, tweaking with them is the fun part." She explained.

"How are you going to get them, do you have someone waiting outside?" Bruce asked, not wanting to get off track.

"No," she sounded like she was about to laugh. "I actually brought another one of my inventions to handle that part."

He watched as what first appeared to be a fire sprinkler system opened and let out beams of light with a buzzing sound, something that reminded him of zeta beams. But of course, Bruce Wayne shouldn't know about those. "What's that?"

"I won't bore you with the details, but basically, it's a transporter. Once I authorize the objects, they'll be received at my base." Melisa explained. "And don't think you can join in on the ride; it can't transport humans just yet. Oh, and if you've added any trackers or anything else out of the ordinary to those devices, it will let me know, even if it can't tell me exactly what it is. But you wouldn't have risked doing something like that, would you?"

"No," he assured, "everything is how I found it."

"Good, then just place them under the beams." She said, and Bruce did as he was told. He heard something on the other end, to what he assumed to be the scanner, and he hoped it wouldn't detect anything. Then, the whirling started again, and the objects were gone. "See, now was that so hard?"

"Can I talk to Dick now?" he asked. "Please?"

"A deal is a deal, isn't it?" she started. "I suppose I won't be able to reach you on your home phone since you're right here. And your cell phone number is just so hard to come by, especially since you change it so often."

"Are you saying you need my cell number?" he asked, trying not to sound annoyed.

"Precisely."

"Fine," and Bruce told her the number. Q told him that she was turning off the speaker so she could talk with the guard, and so he waited. And waited. Then waited some more.

Finally, Bruce heard someone open a door and say, "You up kid? Daddy wants to say hi."

Then there was breathing against the line. It was slow and deep as if the person was sleeping. "Dick?" Bruce asked hopefully.

"Hmmm?" that was Dick's voice, but it sounded groggy, and by the way it came through, Bruce assumed he was on speaker phone.

"Are you alright?" Bruce asked; he needed a medical report. "I saw the footage."

A pause, and at first, Bruce waited patiently, but when he called the boy's name and got no reply, he started to worry. "Dick, are you there?" Bruce asked over and over again. Then he heard a thump and a groan.

"Huh, what?" Dick asked, still groggy but a little more alert than before.

"I asked if you were alright." Bruce said, keeping his voice steady as if it wasn't at all possible that Dick could be bleeding out right now. "I saw the footage from last night. It looked like you were shot?"

"Shot? I don't—" Dick seemed to remember something and cut himself off. "Oh yeah, I think it was my leg. They gave me something for it, though. I think I remember someone changing a bandage. That kind of hurt."

"I'm sorry, buddy. Does it still hurt or did the painkillers kick in?" Bruce wanted to check to make sure it wasn't something other than a painkiller, and he just hoped Dick would be able to tell him. Dick didn't seem too out of it, but he wasn't picking up on things very quickly.

"I think so?" again, Dick phrased it as a question, as if Bruce knew what the right answer was. "Bruce? I don't feel good, can you come get me?"

"I'm working on it, Dick. I'll be there soon, promise." Bruce said, picking up on fear in the boy's voice, something he hadn't noticed earlier.

There was another moment of silence, and then he heard grunting as if the boy was trying to break out of a hold. "I-I can't move." Dick whispered in a panicked voice, and before Bruce could say anything, Dick was starting to hyperventilate, causing even more questions to race through Bruce's head.

_Had they tied him down? And if that was the case, how was he just now noticing? Or was this a medical emergency? What was going on?_

"Dick, I need you to take a few slow, deep breaths, okay?" Bruce coached, listening for Dick to do as he was told.

"I can't," his breath came in short gasps, giving a quick pause for each word. Bruce heard a voice in the background.

"Dick?" he couldn't hear the breathing anymore. "Dick, talk to me!"

The phone must have been pulled away, and he could hear another voice talking to Dick. Then, the line was cut and Q was back.

"I wasn't finished, let me talk to him and make sure he's going to be alright," Bruce pleaded.

"Everything is alright, but my guard thought it would be best to give the boy a sedative. He won't be awake for another hour or two." She explained. "Besides, I can't sit here listening to your oh so touching conversation all evening; I have things to attend to."

And before Bruce could get another word in, the screen went blank, telling him that Q was no longer listening.

.oOo.

Someone entered the room, waking Dick up, or maybe just making him aware that he was conscious. He didn't know, and to be honest, he didn't really care either. He realized the person was talking with someone, on a phone maybe? Dick couldn't tell for sure, but he didn't hear anyone else come in, so that was his best and only guess.

"You up, kid?" a man he recognized from earlier put a phone next to his face and pressed a button. "Daddy wants to say hi."

_Daddy? What's he talking about? _

"Dick?" that was Bruce, and Dick figured the guy in the room couldn't be too much trouble. After all, he made the pain go away, and now he was letting Dick talk to Bruce. Nothing to worry about.

"Hmmm?" Dick asked offhandedly. He was trying to force himself to not fall back to sleep, but it was a downhill battle and he was asleep again before Bruce could answer.

All of a sudden he was jolted awake, and looking up, he realized that the guy must have kicked him awake. Bruce was talking worriedly in his ear and calling his name. "Huh? What?" he responded, the two words slurring slightly.

"I asked if you were alright." Bruce said, and Dick noticed the relief in his voice. "I saw the footage from last night. It looked like you were shot?"

Dick had no idea what Bruce was talking about. "Shot? I don't—" Wait, yeah, he remembered that. "Oh yeah, I think it was my leg." That was the pain that the guy made go away. "They gave me something for it, though. I think I remember someone changing a bandage. That kind of hurt."

"I'm sorry, buddy. Does it still hurt or did the pain killers kick in?" Bruce asked, and there was something in his voice that Dick couldn't quite understand.

"I think so?" Dick said, but it was more of a question because he was starting to feel weird. Sick even. "Bruce? I don't feel good, can you come get me?"

"I'm working on it, Dick. I'll be there soon, I promise." Bruce sounded sad and the worry was back.

Dick tried to roll onto his side, hoping a change in position would help relieve some pressure, and that was when he realized he couldn't move anything below his neck. He struggled for a bit, and the guard moved back into his line of vision. "I-I can't move." Dick wasn't sure if he was telling this to the guard or to Bruce, but he was starting to panic and he could really use some help.

"Dick, I need you to take a few slow, deep breaths, okay?" Bruce said in a commanding, but caring voice.

"I can't," Dick struggled to tell him, gasps breaking momentarily for each word. He realized he was hyperventilating, but he couldn't stop it, which only made him panic more. The phone was pulled away from his face, and then the guy was over his face.

"Try to stay calm, I'll be right back, okay?" the guy left his vision again, but not the room. Dick wasn't aware of how long he was gone, but that wasn't really his main concern at the moment.

"Here we go," Dick didn't see the guy, he only heard him. Next thing he knew, he felt a prick in his arm, and he felt calm before the world went dark once again.

.oOo.

"Status report." Bruce demanded.

Barry sped over with Wally right at his heals, and Alfred joined them at a more human, but still fast, pace.

Barry spoke up first, "I went to Blackgate; Melissa Ferrell wasn't there."

Barry was about to continue, but the details could wait, so Bruce cut him off with, "And Wally? Have you finished?"

"Yeah," Wally nodded quickly. "Alfred showed me how everything works, and he walked me through some more strategies that Robin uses, including hostage situations."

"And you're ready to use them?" Bruce checked.

"Ready as I'll ever be," he responded.

"Then we need to start. Now." Bruce said, a Batman-like tone coming to his voice.

Wally nodded, "I'll be right back." And a second later, he returned in his Robin gear, EMP mask turned on. "So how is it going to go down?" Wally asked, voice getting a little faster in anticipation. "Am I just going to look around Gotham until I spot someone suspicious?"

"I don't know how Q expects you to know who it is, but she wants you to, so she most likely has a plan for that." Bruce stated. "You'll stay in contact with us for as long as possible, and we'll have footage up from various parts of Gotham to help you look."

"Got it." Wally said. "When should I ditch the bike and switch to grappling hook?"

"I'll give you the signal." Bruce answered. "Any other questions about the mission?" Bruce waited, but no one said anything. "Good. Alfred, open the cave."

Once Wally was gone, the three of them moved to the monitors and watched as the red dot that represented Wally moved around Gotham.

"And now we wait." Bruce sunk into a chair as he said this, the day's earlier events hitting him harder than before.

"We wait." Alfred agreed, putting a comforting hand on Bruce's shoulder, and for once in a long time, Bruce didn't brush it off.

.oOo.

Wally left the Cave hoping he had looked more confident than he had felt. He really hoped this would work, and if he followed Bruce's instructions, it should. That was how it _worked_. How it was _supposed_ to work.

"Robin," Bruce's voice came through his earpiece. At first, he was expecting Dick's voice to come across next, but then he realized Batman was talking to him.

"Yeah, Batman?" Wally asked, taking in that he would be using Robin as a codename all night. He just hoped this would be the first and last night.

"It's time to switch to a grappling hook. Leave the bike at these coordinates." Bruce stated before the screen on the bike lit up, showing a map with a red dot for the bike and a blue dot for the destination, a green line creating a path for him to follow.

"Got it." Wally announced, implying that the coordinates were received. He followed the directions and ended up in an alley. Some of the buildings had garage doors attached to them, and almost all of the buildings had fire escapes, some of them leading all the way up to the roof.

Wally got off of the bike and put it next to the dumpsters before locking it and initiating camouflage mode. Then, he climbed one of the ladders to reach the roof of the building. Now all he had to do was make himself noticed. Should be a piece of cake, right?

.oOo.

Now that Wally was on foot, Bruce turned the cameras on the motorcycle off and turned the cameras in the mask's lenses on. Alfred had pulled up security footage and street cameras from different parts of Gotham so he and Barry could help look for any members of Q's crew that way. Bruce would look at the screens every now and then, but he was more focused on guiding Wally through Gotham. Wally had patrolled in Gotham as Kid Flash a few times, but he didn't know Batman and Robin's normal route or what signs to look for so he could avoid criminal activity.

Everything was going smoothly, almost as if someone had made sure the more dangerous criminals stayed off the streets. On the one hand, Bruce was more confident that Wally wouldn't have to run into one of them, but on the other hand, that probably meant they had some kind of agreement with Q. Or maybe some of them were even waiting with Q.

Bruce stopped himself there, knowing that thinking of the worst situations wouldn't do him any good now; he needed to stay focused.

"Master Bruce," Alfred caught his attention, "would you care to take a look at this?"

Bruce looked at the screen that had both Alfred and Barry's attention. "Do you think that's it?"

"I believe so, Sir." Alfred nodded.

"Barry?" Bruce asked, noticing how quiet the usually talkative speedster was. "Do you think we should send Wally that way?"

Barry nodded, "Y-yeah, that's probably our best bet."

Bruce looked Barry in the eye. "He'll be fine Barry. It's just like any other mission we would send him on."

"You're right, I don't know why I'm worrying so much," Barry seemed to mentally shake himself. "Alright, I'll send him the coordinates."

Bruce nodded, "Robin, we're sending coordinates to your wrist computer. We've spotted someone we suspect is working with Q. Be careful."

.oOo.

Wally looked around the mostly deserted construction site. The sun hadn't set yet, but the clouds were getting dark and starting to block out the sun as if it were about to rain. It was quiet, too, he couldn't even hear the police sirens anymore. He shot Robin's grappling hook, and once he was sure it was secure, he jumped off the edge of the building. When he was closer to the ground, he released it and twisted his body into a front tuck in an attempt to gain more control over the fall, just like he had practiced back at the cave. He didn't land as gracefully or as quietly as Dick would have, but it would pass.

Staying in a crouch-like position, Wally scanned the area before standing and walking closer to where Bruce had told him to look, staying alert just in case Q's team decided to ambush him. He started to vibrate his vocal chords to try to get closer to how Robin's voice sounded, remembering to focus on the technique behind it and Robin's voice itself. "I can do this," Wally whispered to himself, trying to get the right frequency. He did it a few more times before he found one close enough. He just hoped he would be able to keep it up for the rest of the night.

"Alright," Wally said, louder this time so anyone in the vicinity could hear him, "I know you guys are here somewhere." He turned a corner, spotting a van, but no guards.

"The Boy Wonder finally shows himself."

Wally whipped around, seeing two guys, both carrying guns, and both of them were pointed at him. He raised his hands in the air, just above his head. "You sound surprised," he said, trying to keep his voice light, and not at all nervous.

"Does the Bat know you're here?" the one with a blue coat spoke up.

"He's not here if that's what you're getting at." Wally stated in a matter of fact tone.

"Still recovering from the last time he tried to do your job?" this time the on in a black coat asked, smirking as he did.

"Look, are we going to talk all night, or are you going to take me in?" Wally crossed his arms over his chest.

Blue Coat and Black Coat looked at each other and nodded. Blue Coat came up to Wally, causing his heart to beat a little faster. Blue Coat grabbed his wrists and put them behind his back before handcuffing them together, all without any protest from Wally. While this was going on, Black Coat went back towards the van, opening the doors. Blue Coat gave Wally a shove forward, telling him to start walking forward.

Wally stopped when he was right in front of the doors to the van. "We're going to where you're keeping Richard Grayson, right?"

"Yeah, that's right," Blue Coat confirmed.

"And you're going to let the kid go?" Wally checked, letting his voice be a little more threatening than before.

"Trust me, we're happy to get rid of him," Black Coat said. Wally didn't like the way that sounded one bit.

"You won't hurt him? You'll let him go back to his family alive?" Wally asked, keeping his voice as even as possible.

"That was the deal, wasn't it?" Blue Coat replied. "Now get in the van, we don't have time for your distractions."

Wally opened his mouth to say something else but decided against it. Instead, he did as he was told. Blue Coat stayed in the back with him, pushing him down into a sitting position before pulling out something that looked like a collar. A big, bulky, metal collar to be exact.

"What's that?" Wally asked, unconsciously scooting a little further away from the man.

"It's just a precaution. Don't want you running off, now do we?" Blue Coat clicked the collar open and put it around Wally's neck before closing it shut. He guessed Blue Coat had pressed something, because the next thing he heard was a small buzzing noise, as if the collar was turning on. "If you try to run, we just have to press a button on a remote, and it will send an electric charge powerful enough to knock you out, so don't try anything, got it?"

"Got it," Wally agreed, trying not to think of the advantage the collar gave them. He heard the van's engine turn on, and then he felt it start moving. He concentrated on staying upward as the van swerved, causing Wally's center of gravity to shift.

"Hey!" Wally shouted when he felt something being placed over his face, cutting off his vision.

"Easy," Blue Coat said in an annoyed voice, "it's just a blind fold."

"Give a guy a warning next time, would you?" Wally muttered in annoyance, causing Blue Coat to give a small chuckle.

They were silent for the rest of the ride, and soon, Wally felt the van come to a stop. He heard Blue Coat stand up, and then there were hands on his arms, pulling him up into a standing position. A door slammed shut, signifying that Black Coat was coming around. He heard the squeak of a hinge, and then a blast of cool air. He was shoved forward, and just like before, he started walking.

This was it, he was in.

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**So, how was it? Worth the wait? I had some shorter scenes and then, like, one long scene. What length do you guys prefer for scenes anyway? Did you like the phone call? Which pov was your favorite, or was it a bad idea to do both sides of the phone call? And how did Wally do as Robin? And what about how he was able to change his voice? Too much of a stretch or no? Any guesses for what will happen next? Let me know! **

**Special thanks to: ****halmoh4,** **truehearts101,** **KatLvHoO,** **Luxen T,** **KarateGirl1015,** **Heartseaz,** **Miztrezz,** **Katsami98,** **jennifer. ivan. 9,** **sami. liz. dunlap, emilie. fiil. thomsen, Alexandria-likethecityinEgypt, karen potter 97, EmberSun, Blue Seer, dark11krad, lilly-loena-rose, CoverGirl7210, foreverpatron, Hollyberrybunny, Fixie13, KatLvHoO, MusicalTira, IrisLillyRose, Savy160, IndiaMoore, thebibliophileshavethephonebox, PenguinLover28 (guest), The Shadow Keeper , you (guest), Butterfly Crown, Nalash Polal Falayt, Random Reader (guest), and mortalathena for the follows, favorites, and reviews, they really make my day!**

**Replies:**

**PenguinLover28 (guest): Thanks, I'm glad you liked the last chapter, and sorry it took me so long to write up this one. And thanks for reviewing on Only a Dream :)**

**you (guest): Of course, and thanks for taking the time to review :) **

**Random Reader: Thanks so much for the reviews! I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far :)**

**One more thing, I wrote a one-shot called Only a Dream. It's in the Teen Titans category, and it's a sad/angsty/slight fluff BBRae fic, if you're interested, it would mean a lot to me if you would check it out! I'm also working on another one-shot, this one will be DickBabs and I'll probably put it in the Batman category. The last one should be up in a few days, so check my profile if you think you would like to read that.**

**Thanks for reading, until next time **

**-TheImaginativeFox**

**(Review? I love hearing for you guys!)**


	11. Chapter 11

**So this has actually been finished for about a week now, I've just been too lazy to go through and edit it/make changes. Oh well, better late than never, right? **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

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The goons finally came to a stop and one of them began to mess with something that sounded like a lock. Light flooded his vision as his blindfold was pulled off, causing Wally to squint until his eyes adjusted. Black Coat opened the door and Wally peered in, but there was no sign of Dick.

"We had a deal." Wally looked back at the guards, giving them his best Bat-glare. "You're not locking me in there until I see Richard Grayson."

"You heroes always having to check on the hostages." Blue Coat muttered in a light-tone as if he was trying to tell a joke.

"Yeah, it's a habit." Wally said, rolling his eyes beneath Robin's mask. "Can you please just let me check on the kid?"

Blue Coat and Black Coat looked at each other. "Fine." Black Coat shrugged, and before he knew it, the blindfold was back on and they were walking again.

Soon, another door opened and Wally's blindfold was pulled off, light flooding his vision just like before. He peered into the room, and relief washed over him when he saw Dick.

Black Coat checked his watch and muttered something under his breath. "If you think you can handle everything here, I need to go give the boss an update."

"No problem. I'll let you know when we're finished." Blue Coat said. So Black Coat left, locking the door behind him as Wally approached the cot Dick was sleeping on.

Wally could tell which leg had been shot pretty easily. Dick's left pant leg had a bandage wrapped tightly around it, and the leg had been elevated. The bleeding seemed under control, but he didn't know what other damage the bullet had caused. For all he knew, there could be an infection or internal bleeding.

Brushing those thoughts aside, Wally did a quick vital check: rapid pulse rate, but it was weak; blood pressure was pretty normal, maybe a little low, but not concerning yet; breathing was a bit faster that usual; skin was slightly cool and a little pale; and the capillary refill was a bit delayed. All of that probably put Dick at class two hemorrhaging.

Now just to get Dick to a hospital before it progressed.

"Richard?" he shook Dick's shoulder. "Can you hear me?" Wally had to try a few times, but eventually Dick let out a quiet groan. His face scrunched up and his head rolled to the side, but a few moments later he was still and quiet again. He tried a few more times, but got the same results.

Wally was about to give up and let Dick rest when he heard a moan. His head snapped back to look at Dick, who was blinking up at him. "Richard?"

.oOo.

"You requested a meeting?" Q asked, but calling it a request wasn't very accurate.

"The files were corrupted." L-1 said.

"What?" Q asked, shocked.

"You heard me." L-1 said.

"Th-that's impossible. I-I checked them." Nothing had been tampered with, otherwise she wouldn't have sent them the files.

"This is the last straw. We can't have these kinds of mistakes, and you've made quite enough of them. You go off making decisions on your own, and you can't even follow through on orders." L-6 ranted.

"Excuse me, but without me you wouldn't—" Q tried, looking from screen to screen, her face showing nothing but resentment.

"Without you, we would've found someone else, someone who wasn't blinded by revenge." L-3 decided.

"I'm not—" Q defended.

"You shot Grayson!" L-1 yelled in frustration.

What was she supposed to do? Let Grayson get away with humiliating her? "Well, yes—"

"We never approved that." L-4 stated.

She really didn't think shooting Grayson would bother them so much. Besides, it wasn't like she had planned it ahead of time, but something needed to be done after everything that had happened that night. When they didn't mention anything at the meeting, she assumed they knew and were okay with it. Now it seemed like they had found out from the video she put in the news today . . .

"I felt the others involved needed more motivation, and we had to make sure Grayson didn't try to escape again." Q explained, but the Light wasn't having any of it.

"And what good is your motivation if Grayson bleeds to death? We don't kill without good reason." L-2 reminded.

"I've had him taken care of." Q replied, and she had. Someone had taken care of the wound, and besides, this provided a timeline that Robin would be forced to follow.

"We received an update, and he's not doing well. We need him alive; how else are you supposed to gain trust?" L-1 asked. "If you don't play through on your part, next time you make a move it won't go over smoothly."

Alright, they had a point. "Yeah, but it didn't seem like Robin—"

"Robin would've come! And now Batman is probably watching your moves even more closely! For all we know he's working with Wayne and the police on this case." L-3 probably wasn't too far off if she was being honest.

"She needs to send the collars back to us so our other scientists can finish what she started." L-6 demanded.

"You can't replace me like that." Q said, because she was not replaceable.

"Please, if anything we used you as a distraction." L-7 pointed out in an unenthusiastic tone.

"I did more than that, and you know it!" Q shouted.

"Only because we allowed it." L-3 sighed. "Honestly, with all of the risks and mistakes you've made, I'm surprised you haven't been caught again."

So they were bringing that up? "I didn't get caught easily, I—"

"Enough! We don't have time for this. Send someone to retrieve the prototypes and Grayson." L-2 demanded.

"If you're not going to follow through on your part, then I can't let you have them." Q decided, and meant it, too.

"That's not really your decision to make, now is it?" L-4 pointed out.

"You think I would hand over Grayson to you along with _my_ experiments after you treat me like this? It was my mistake to agree to work with you in the first place." Q spat.

"If not for us, you would still be in prison." L-5 reminded.

"Don't give us any more reason to get rid of you permanently." L-1 threatened.

"We'll be watching you." L-2 warned, and all of the screens went black.

Q let out a frustrated scream. What was she supposed to do now? If they weren't planning on killing her yet, they would probably keep her prisoner, and who knows what that would entail. There was a small chance they would actually let her go, and if they did, they would always be watching her. She had to get out of there, and fast.

She turned to leave when her phone went off. Her "work" phone to be exact. She clicked the voice modifier before speaking. "Yes?"

"We have Robin secured at the base." Kyle said.

"About time." She kept her voice steady, pretending as if everything was going as planned. "I'll make my way over there. We'll be moving bases again, so get the prototypes and the two boys ready for transport. I want to destroy the base the same way we did last time, but I plan to do it as we leave."

"Okay, understood. Will Grayson be coming with us or are we letting him go?" Kyle asked.

After Wayne pulled that stunt? Yeah right. "I made a promise, so we will be letting Grayson go. However, I believe the Joker will be finding him before Wayne does."

.oOo.

What was going on? Was he dreaming or something? The guy from earlier was talking with someone, but that someone was him! Well, Robin, or at least it looked like Robin, and it sounded a lot like Robin. Dick blinked again, "Robin?"

"Yeah, that's me." Robin answered.

"Where am I?" Dick asked, not moving much out of fear he would throw up whatever was left in his stomach. He also felt like he was in a haze, and no matter how hard he tried to focus and shake it, it wouldn't let up. "What's going on? Is this some sort of dream?"

"You're not dreaming," the fake Robin promised him. "I'm going to get you out of here soon, though, okay?"

Dick wanted to ask more questions, but a voice in his head told him to just go with it. "Okay." he agreed, deciding he could trust Fake Robin for now. The nausea was starting to go down, so he figured he would be able to sit up without puking, but when he tried to move, he realized he couldn't. That wasn't normal, right? "I-I can't move?"

"Hey, stay calm and look at me, can you do that?" Fake Robin commanded, and the tone of his voice forced Dick to listen. There was something familiar about Fake Robin, but Dick couldn't put his finger on it just yet. "Good. Now take a few deep breaths." He did. "There you go, just keep breathing and we'll figure this out."

Fake Robin turned to the guy from earlier and started talking to him, the kindness in his voice disappearing. "I'm guessing this is one of those settings on the collar thing?"

"Uh, yeah," the guy from earlier said.

"Could you turn it off for a bit?" Fake Robin asked.

"I guess that's okay for a few minutes." The guy from earlier grabbed something from his pocket and started to mess with it.

Soon, all of Dick's struggles were finally met with results as his body moved to obey his commands. He was sitting up, and as a result, his legs shifted.

"Aargh!" Dick couldn't help but yell out as an intense pain went through his left one. He was hit with a wave of dizziness that forced him to fall down on his side, and he instinctively pulled his knees to his chest. Hands were on him and someone was talking to him, but he couldn't understand what they were saying. Why wouldn't they just, "Stop!"

The hands were gone, and it was quiet. Dick's eyes were still squeezed shut, but his breathing was becoming less and less panicked.

"You okay?" Fake Robin asked after a few seconds. Dick opened his eyes and blinked a few times as he gathered his thoughts. The pain was becoming more tolerable, but as it left, Dick realized how tired he was.

"I think," his head still felt like it was spinning, but it was becoming more tolerable now that he was lying down and staying still again. "Just . . . need a minute."

"How bad is the pain on a scale of one to ten?" Fake Robin asked him.

"I don't know," putting a number to the pain was the last thing on his mind right now, and trying only made him more agitated. "Bad?"

"Is it just your leg, or is there something else?" Fake Robin pressed.

"Head hurts, and I'm dizzy." Dick said, blinking his eyes a few times to keep them open. "Tired, too."

"I know," Fake Robin said sympathetically. "You can get some rest soon." Fake Robin glanced at Dick's leg, but Dick didn't notice the flash of worry that went over Fake Robin's face. "Right now, we need to elevate your leg and redress it."

The idea of moving and rewrapping his leg wasn't something Dick wanted to do, but by the nervous look on Fake Robin's face, it wasn't really up to him.

"I'll move it on three, okay?" Fake Robin started to count, and Dick held his breath.

The movement hurt, but he was able to hold back a scream, although a hushed moan left his lips. When the bandage came off, he could feel the blood flowing faster, and then a lot of pressure was being put on his leg. Dick gasped, and someone—Fake Robin probably—was telling him it would be over soon. He lost track of how long the pressure was applied, but he was relieved when it was gone for a brief second before a bandage was wrapped tightly around his leg. When it was over, he let out a shaky breath and opened his eyes. Turning his head a little, he saw blood on the cot and on Fake Robin's gloves. He wasn't sure if it was a dangerous amount, all he knew was that it wasn't good. God, he really didn't want to be here anymore.

"How's that feel?" Fake Robin asked, grabbing Dick's wrist and putting his fingers against it.

"How does what feel?" Dick asked, noticing that his words were starting to slur.

"The bandage," Fake Robin explained patiently.

"Oh," duh. "Um, tight?"

"Too tight?" Fake Robin questioned, and Dick shook his head. Fake Robin lifted Dick's hand higher and squeezed his finger. What was this guy doing?

"Why're you doing that?" Dick asked, eyebrows knitting together in confusion.

"I'm just checking your vitals." Fake Robin answered, giving him a comforting smile.

Dick didn't really know what to say next, so he just nodded and closed his eyes for a few seconds. When he opened his eyes again, Fake Robin and the guy from earlier were both gone. He must've fallen asleep. He was about to close his eyes again, but he heard shouting and people were running past the door in a panic. What was going on?

.oOo.

Q parked the van behind the building that would soon be destroyed. It had been her main base, and she had been using it ever since the Light got her out of prison—which she could've done on her own if she had been trying. She wasn't really sure what the building had been used for before she moved in since the Light had already fixed the place up before she had gotten there. Now it had a few smaller rooms that she was using as holding cells for Robin and Grayson, a lab and testing room, a breakroom for her staff to use, a storage area to manage shipments, and then a boardroom (which had only been used a few times, and Q had only attended them through a laptop).

Q took a deep breath before reaching for her phone and clicked the contact that read "Kyle".

"Q?" Kyle asked.

"I'm outside with the van, is everything ready?" Q asked.

"Yeah, we just have to load it in the van." Kyle answered.

"Will you be able to do it in one trip?" Q asked, getting out of the car, grabbing the explosives she had brought with her and began to place them around the building.

"Um, I don't know. I mean, there are only four of us." Kyle explained.

"Four men to bring out two children, and a few boxes?" Q questioned impatiently.

"The boxes aren't exactly small," Kyle muttered.

"Very well. Bring the stuff down and make sure someone is watching the captives." Q said.

"Right." Kyle agreed, and Q hung up.

She thought about which should be loaded first: the supplies or the children? Whoever the Light was sending after her could show up at any moment, so it might be best to leave with the captives and burn the base with the supplies inside. But then again, if she brought the captives out first, they would be more likely to escape, or make enough noise for someone to give away their position. And taking them out first meant that the Light would have a better chance at getting their hands on the collars and pain inducer.

Maybe she should just set off the explosives with everything inside and cut her losses? After all, she could remake the supplies, and there were plenty of other ways to get back at Wayne. Killing Grayson and Robin actually didn't sound like a bad idea, but there would be consequences, that was for sure.

"Melissa Ferrell."

"Sportsmaster, Cheshire," Q greeted, stepping away from the building and slowly heading towards her car. If they were going to take her in, they were going to have to catch her first.

"How kind of you to remember." They had only met once, and that had been a few months ago when they had broken her out of Blackgate, but she had heard a lot about them since.

"As nice as this little reunion has been, I have a very busy schedule, so you'll understand that I can't stay." Q said, putting her hand on the car door, but before she could open it, something sharp and cool was against her throat.

"Oh, this will only take a few minutes of your time." Cheshire promised, beginning to walk backwards. They were getting far enough away, and Q decided it was time for that last resort. She pressed down on the trigger and listened as the explosives started to beep rapidly. Q was released, and all three of them ran for cover as they went off, successfully catching the building on fire.

Q raced to her feet and started running, but Cheshire and Sportsmaster were on her tail. She wasn't going down easily, no matter how useless her attempts seemed. So she ran, trying not to think about what her last resort would cost her.

* * *

**What did you think? I didn't really care for this chapter, but I've also been starring at it forever. It actually sued to be a lot longer, but I really hated some parts, so I just cut them out. Did you have any favorite moments? Anything you really hated or wished I did differently? Do you think Q will get away? And what about Wally and Dick, will they make it out? And I'm sorry if they were too ooc, I'm not really sure at this point. I already have some scenes finished for the next chapter, and I think you guys are going to like it. Any thoughts or suggestions? Let me know, and thanks so much for reading!**

**Special thanks to: ****RRachael, ****dinacerise, ****Knux27, ****SoulmateOfMusic, ****savannaharaiza, ****LittleCrouton, ****Canadian Reaper, ****AlyssPotter, ****GhostLucy, ****Keira123, ****foxxyJ999, ****irrelevantAssasin, ****aRobinfan, ****ysoto52, ****Glacier22, ****T-writer1234, ****stephanieebrown, ****Blue Torpedo, ****Fandoms killed my social life, TheDiamondSword400, cupcakejenny, DarkerThanBlack1209, Maple Tales, Gardevoir10, valeria. ariassolis, PetalMatron, 1412PhantomWriter27, Dr. camfiction (has some cool stories if you guys want to check them out),** **Knux27, thebibliophileshavethephonebox, The Shadow Keeper, Fisheseatoreos (guest), Pottergirl3333, EmberSun, Guest (guest), Butterfly Crown, Nalash Polal Falayt, PenguinLover28 (guest), mortalathena, Guest (guest), IndiaMoore, Alexandria-likethecityinEgypt, TrueHearts101, steelec1, and Savy160 for all of the follows, favorites, and reviews, I really appreciate it!**

**Replies:**

**Fisheseatoreos (guest): I'm glad the pacing is okay, and I'm so happy you're enjoying the story! I'm really sorry it takes me so long to update, but if you're ever looking for something else to read, you should check out some for the stories I have on my favorites list. Thanks for taking the time to leave a review :)**

**Guest (guest): Thanks for the review, I hope you liked the chapter!**

**PenguinLover28 (guest): Sometimes I feel bad for liking things like that, so I get it, and there's more stuff like that to come (and some fluff mixed in). Thanks for the review!**

**Guest (guest): I'm glad you liked how I did the phone call, I was a bit nervous about that scene and splitting it up like that. Thanks so much for the review!**

**Just a heads up, I have three one-shots I put up since the last update. The one is the Dick/Babs one-shot called "Forever and Always" that I was talking about last time, and the other one is a Wally/Artemis one called "I Brought Your Favorite: Everything" that I did from a prompt I found on tumblr, and that one takes place after the last episode of season two. And the last one is just a Dick Grayson one-shot that takes place when he's little right after he moves in with Bruce and Alfred. All of them are kind of sad and pretty short (especially the last two, not even 1,000 words), but if you check them out, I hope you like them :)**

**Until next time**

**-TheImaginativeFox **

**(I'm super tired, so sorry for any typos) **


	12. Chapter 12

**Sorry for the wait, to make up for it, the chapter's longer than originally planned.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

* * *

Wally paced around the room, mentally cursing whoever's idea it was to invent the inhibitor collar. He didn't know how to deactivate them. He had an idea, but there was a security camera in the room that the guards had pointed out to him, warning him that if they saw any funny business, they would set the collar to detonate. He didn't bother asking what counted as "funny business," but he assumed escape attempts and trying to get the collar off counted.

Part of him wondered if anyone was even watching the footage, or if the collars actually detonated. It was likely that they could, but he didn't really think Q would get rid of Robin that fast unless that had been her plan all along. And then there was the possibility that they would detonate Dick's collar instead of his.

Wally shook his head; he wasn't going to go there. Point was that trying to take the collars off under surveillance was a bad idea.

"—ove Robin first, then we'll get the kid."

Wally stopped pacing and looked up at the door at the sound of Black Coat's voice.

"Back away from the door." Blue Coat demanded and Wally obeyed. The door was pushed open and Blue Coat walked in. A blindfold was placed over Wally's eyes and his hands were pulled behind his back.

"Where are we going?" Wally asked as he was shoved forward.

"A new base." Blue Coat answered.

"What about the kid?" Wally asked.

"We already made the call, and the kid's dad is on his way to the drop-off point." Blue Coat assured. "Grayson'll be in a separate van than you. He'll meet up with Wayne and you'll head to the new base."

"Good," Wally didn't believe them; Bruce would've radioed him if there had been an update on the situation. Unless his radio was being tracked, but still. "So what're you going to do with me now anyway?"

The only answer Wally got was the sound of an explosion as the building shook, forcing all of them to their knees. Wally coughed as smoke and debris tried to enter his lungs, and he could feel heat starting to surround him.

Wally pulled the blindfold off and looked around: the building was on fire. He was about to yell at the guards to get themselves out, but they were already on it.

Good, one less thing for him to worry about. All he needed to do now was find Dick and get the two of them out before the building collapsed. And now that the baddies were long gone, he was going to do it _fast_.

.oOo.

Q stumbled to her feet and headed for the woods, her feet threatening to slip as she ran uphill through the mud.

"You go after Q, I'll get Grayson!" Sportsmaster shouted.

"No! Q is our priority, we didn't come to get the others." Cheshire reminded.

Q was a little hurt that the Light didn't care enough to have them retrieve the inhibitor collars she had been working on, but then again, the Light was smart enough to know that if she got away, their secret organization wouldn't be so secret.

With a smirk, Q ran in zigzags until she was out of sight, then started to circle back towards the building, doing her best to not be seen.

When she got over to where the vans were parked, she was a surprised to find that the one was gone. A quick check told her it had been the one her lackeys had been loading, too. Perhaps they had gotten away with the hostages and her project? Even if it was just a few prototypes, it was better than nothing. This was working out much better than she thought it would. Now she would have her projects, hostages, and the ability to snitch about the Light at a moment's notice.

Knowing she didn't have much time before the two assassins figured out she had headed back towards the building, she quickly got in the van and started up the engine.

.oOo.

Dick tried his best not to panic. The painkillers were basically worn off by now and his leg was killing him. The smoke was getting thicker, and it was getting harder to breathe. He didn't have much time left, he knew that much, and he knew there was a good possibility that he would die in there, but that didn't mean he was going to stop fighting. No, not in the slightest.

He took a deep breath and ran at the doorway again. "Argh!" he shouted as the electricity burned into his skin and pushed him back to the ground just like every time before. He let out another yell of frustration as he pushed himself into a sitting position, leaning against the bed for support. Dick leaned his head back, squeezing his eyes shut as he waited for the stabbing pain in his leg to go down.

"Dick!" he heard someone shouting. Wait, was that? "Can you hear me?"

"Wally?" Dick shouted back, opening his eyes and looking around.

"T!" Wally shouted in victory, footsteps getting faster.

Dick's eyes widened, realizing Wally was heading right into the room—into the electric fence. "Stop! Don't come—"

Dick saw a blur of red and black rush into the room, stopping to kneel next to him.

"—in," Dick finished, his bangs blowing out of his face due to the rush of wind Wally brought with his super speed.

Wally was dressed in a Robin costume, and Dick briefly noted that the earlier interaction with "Fake Robin" hadn't been a hallucination.

"Hop on my back, and I'll get us out of here," Wally said, but Dick just shook his head.

"There's an electric field that the collars trigger. We can't get out unless the collars come off or the fence is shut down. But apparently we can get in just fine." Dick explained when Wally gave him a confused look.

"Maybe it's just your collar?" Wally suggested, walking towards the door to test his theory. "Argh!" Wally yelled, the electricity pushing him back just as it had done to Dick. Before Dick could tell him that speed wouldn't help either, a whoosh of air was blowing past him just before the speedster yelled out again. "Okay, so that's a no." Wally said, wincing.

"No kidding," Dick rolled his eyes.

"So what's the plan?" Wally asked.

"We have to get the collars off, but I don't have any—" Dick caught a glimpse of the yellow belt around Wally's waist. "Is that my belt?"

"Uh, yeah," Wally said, a little hesitantly. "We kind of needed a Robin. Hope you don't mind that I borrowed it."

"No, I just mean that it's fully loaded, right?" Dick asked, and Wally nodded. "Give me the belt and the glove. I think I can get the collars off."

"Really?" Wally asked.

"Yeah, it shouldn't be too hard to figure out." Dick shrugged. "Come here, I'll do you first."

.oOo.

Q had no idea where she was going, all she knew was that she was going fast. She took random turns, hoping it would make her harder to follow. She wondered if the Shadows were still following her, or if she should try to contact her guys who took the other van.

Suddenly, she noticed the dial on her gas tank was plummeting way too fast, and soon, the van came to a stop. Crap.

She unbuckled herself and tried to find some kind of weapon. A pound on the window followed by the sound of shattering glass had Q diving for the floor. The van was filling with smoke, and Q was trying not to breathe it in as she scrambled for freedom.

Sportsmaster appeared in her vision, giving her a good punch to the stomach that made her unwillingly gasp for air as he said, "The Light isn't finished with you just yet." And she faded into darkness.

.oOo.

"There," Dick said, the collar dropping to the ground.

Dick wasn't looking good. His teeth were clenched shut—probably from the pain in his leg—, he was pale from blood loss, and his breathing was labored. Even if they got out of the building safely, Wally knew Dick wouldn't hold on long without medical attention.

"Here," Wally said, reaching into one of the belt's pockets in search of a rebreather and handing it to Dick.

"Thanks," Dick wheezed, placing the rebreather between his teeth with shaky hands.

"Now let's get you out of here," Wally said. "Can you get on my back?" No, that would be a bad idea. Getting the collars off was draining for Dick, and there was no way he would be able to keep himself upright and hold on as Wally ran out of the building. "You know, maybe I'll just carry you?"

Dick looked up at Wally with tired eyes, but didn't show any sign of protest. Wally tapped the side of his face to turn the EMP mask back on before walking towards Dick and carefully picking him up. The small teen winced and moaned at the movement, but after the initial shock, he leaned into Wally's hold and became very still, as if he was about to fall asleep.

"Hey," Wally said, gaining Dick's attention in hopes of keeping him alert. "How'd you get the door down anyway?"

Dick pulled the rebreather out of his mouth. "Kicked the… door down." He said simply.

"On that leg?" Wally asked, standing up and walking through the doorway.

Dick nodded slowly and dropped his head back against Wally's shoulder.

"Any idea where the exit is?" Wally asked, looking to the left and then the right. The fire had spread since he had been in the hallway last, and he was pretty sure the rafters were about to fall. "Dick, you still with me?"

No answer.

"Perfect." Wally ran towards the right, trying to shield Dick from the heat best he could. He memorized every turn he took in case he had to backtrack, but didn't really have a strategy other than what felt right.

It seemed to be working so far, until of course part of the ceiling gave way, blocking their path and sending sparks their way. Wally instantly whirled around, crouching down and using the cape to shield himself and Dick. "Well this just keeps getting better and better." Wally muttered, taking off the cape and putting it over Dick just in case something like that happened again.

Wally backtracked, looking for another way to get to the door. It took a few seconds, but he found one. He ran for the door, turning the knob with one hand and pushing it open with his shoulder. He took a gulp of the cleaner air, but didn't stop running.

He skidded to a stop and leaned Dick against a tree. Wally pulled out the communicator and called Batman, who picked up immediately. "We need a fire truck and an ambulance."

"Okay, we're tracking your location now." Bruce assured, the sound of typing in the background. "They should be there in a few minutes. How's Dick?"

"Passed out at the moment, but he was able to get us out of the inhibitor collars earlier." Wally explained.

"Inhibitor collards?" Uncle Barry's face popped up on the screen.

"Yeah, I'll tell you about it when I get back." Wally decided, taking a seat next to Dick, who instantly slumped against Wally's shoulder.

"Is that a rebreather?" Bruce asked when he got a glimpse of Dick on the screen.

"Yeah, he was having trouble breathing and it's all I had on me." Wally answered.

"It was good thinking." Bruce said.

"Master Bruce, Commissioner Gordon is on the phone." Alfred's voice came from off screen. "He wants to talk to you about Master Richard."

"I'll take it in the study." Bruce said. "Stay with him."

"Of course," Wally said, and the screen went off.

After a few moments of silence, Dick began to stir. He spit out the rebreather and tried to get the cape off in a panic.

"Hey, Dick, it's okay, you're safe now." Wally soothed, putting his hands on Dick's shoulders to still him.

"Huh?" Dick asked, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "Wally?"

"Yeah it's me, I just look like Robin right now. I need you to be quiet, okay?" Wally explained. He wasn't sure if the others were gone, but if they weren't he really didn't want to alert to them that they had gotten out.

"Okay," Dick said, muffling a cough with his arm.

Wally put the rebreather back in Dick's mouth. "This will help with your breathing, I need you to keep it in for a bit until help comes, okay?"

Dick nodded, and Wally looked down to get a good look at Dick's leg. It was bleeding pretty heavily again, and Wally wondered if Dick had passed out from blood loss rather than exhaustion. His pant leg was drenched in it, and Wally noticed blood stains on himself. They had probably left a trail of blood through the building, too. "Man, you really messed it up this time, huh?" Wally said, hoping keeping conversation would help. "It's probably just from running on it." Wally guessed. "I'm going to wrap another bandage around it, maybe it will help slow the bleeding."

With a nod from Dick, Wally took out a bandage and wrapped it around. He didn't bother taking the other one off, knowing it would only cause Dick pain and make the blood flow faster.

"There you go," Wally said when he was finished.

"I want to… go home." Dick practically moaned.

"I know." Wally said sadly. "You can go home soon, I promise. Just try to take it easy until then, okay?"

Conversation went on like that for a bit until Wally finally heard the sound of sirens approaching them. Wally turned his head to see a fire truck, a police car, and an ambulance approaching them.

"Wazzat?" Dick slurred tiredly, lifting his head a bit to try to look towards the source of the noise.

"It's just the ambulance." Wally said, moving to pick up Dick. Even though Wally tried his best not to jostle Dick, the boy still gasped in pain and tried to reach for his leg. Wally stopped him and Dick ended up burying his face in Wally's chest.

Wally started vibrating his vocal chords and ran—at a non-super speed—out to meet the paramedics. "Over here!"

The paramedics ran out of the front seat and towards the back of the ambulance. They disappeared for a few seconds before they wheeled out a gurney with some equipment on it. They took Dick from him and placed him on the gurney, immediately beginning to work on him.

"Good work, Robin, we'll take it from here." The first paramedic said.

How was he just supposed to leave Dick like this?! "Right, make sure he gets back to his dad."

"We will, he's in good hands."

Wally started to walk away, but then he noticed Dick had grabbed on to his wrist. "It's okay, Dick, they're going to make sure you're okay."

They caught each other's gaze for a second before Dick complied and let go, in a way, it told Wally that it was okay to go. So he left before he could change his mind.

.oOo.

Dick begrudgingly let go of Wally's hand, letting him go and telling himself that these were real paramedics and he was not going to be kidnapped again.

"Dick, can you tell me how old you are?" the one paramedic asked, flashing a light in his eyes.

"Thirteen," Dick answered, flinching a little when cool, sticky pads were placed on his chest.

"Do you have any allergies or medical conditions?" Dick shook his head. He didn't think so anyway.

"Do you remember what happened to your leg?"

"I think… I was shot," Dick got out before another coughing fit started.

"I know your leg hurts, does anything else?"

Dick thought for a second, "My head hurts… and my… stomach feels kinda… weird."

"On a scale of one to ten, how much pain are you in?" he asked, placing an oxygen mask over Dick's nose and mouth while the other paramedic inserted what Dick assumed was an IV into the crook of his arm.

Did they mean his leg? Or overall? "Um, eight and a half maybe?"

"Okay," the paramedic nodded and inserted something into the IV. Then he looked in Dick's throat and listened to his chest with a stethoscope.

"Where you in the building when it caught fire?" the other one asked, moving down towards his leg and looking it over.

"Uh-huh. It was… in the… hallway." Dick said between breaths, voice a little muffled from the mask.

"And the burn marks, are those from the fire?" the one on his left asked.

"Not sure." Dick said, trying to concentrate. "Some are… electrical burns… some could be from… sparks when one of the… rafters fell."

The paramedic nodded again. "We're going to have to immobilize and rebandage your leg now, try to stay still for me, okay?"

Dick nodded and held his breath in anticipation, eyes squeezed shut. He stayed still and did his best not to scream of moan or yell at them to stop touching him. The other paramedic got his attention and offered his hand to Dick. Dick took it and squeezed it a little as suggested.

"You're doing great, we're almost done. Is there anything else we should know?" the paramedic asked calmly.

"I don't know." Dick admitted. "Uh, they gave me… something earlier."

"What did it do?"

"The one made… me go to sleep… and the other two… helped with the pain." Dick explained. "And-and they gave… me something that made… everything hurt… yesterday."

"Where the painkillers and sedatives today?"

Dick nodded. Yeah, those were what they were called.

"Do you remember feeling nauseous or vomiting at all?"

"Uh, yeah." Dick answered slowly, trying to focus again. "I felt nauseous… after the, uh… painkillers. And I puked… at school and when I… woke up at… the first place."

"I'm done, we can move him now." The other paramedic said. Then a blanket was draped over him and some belts went over his chest and legs. They started wheeling him back towards the ambulance at, and then quickly lifted him in. The other paramedic got back out and shut the doors, while the first one stayed with Dick, still holding his hand.

Dick felt the ambulance pull away, sirens blaring as they went. The one that was staying in the back let go of his hand and pulled out a radio, explaining he needed to let the hospital know they were coming and what to expect.

"Ambulance 58 with a thirteen year old male, GSW to the left calf with a suspected fibula fracture on same leg, suffering from smoke inhalation and minor burns, has shortness of breath, HR 128, BP 82/48, RR 26, estimated class three hemorrhage, difficulty breathing, patient is awake and alert, leg has been packed and immobilized, IV established, Morphine 4mg, en route to Gotham Memorial ETA 2 minutes." The paramedic spoke so fast it started to make Dick's head spin.

About two minutes later, the ambulance came to a stop and the doors flew open. The gurney was moving again, and several doctors came into Dick's vision as the paramedic told them his vitals. The doctors moved Dick off of the gurney and onto a hospital bed, as the paramedic handed one of them a file before he and his partner left the building.

"I'm Dr. Peterson," The head doctor told him, scanning through the chart before looking up again. "Dick Grayson, right?" Dick nodded, not finding the strength to greet the man properly. "I'm just going do a quick examination, and then we'll get you fixed up, sound good?"

Dr. Peterson took out a stethoscope and placed it on Dick's chest. "Take a deep breath for me… And again… Okay. Can you follow this light with your eyes?" The doctor took out a small light from his pocket and moved it from left to right, Dick's eyes following it. "Good, and look at my nose… Okay, now open your mouth and say 'ah'… Great. I'm going to press on your stomach, sorry, my hands might be a little cold… Alright, I'm going to take a look at that leg now."

Dr. Peterson lifted the blanket and moved it to the side. He prodded Dick's leg, causing him to let out a hiss. "I'm sorry, I know it hurts." Dr. Peterson apologized as he finished up. He turned around and said something Dick couldn't quite hear to the other doctors before addressing Dick. "Alright, Dick, we're going to take some blood and then get an x-ray of your leg. After that, we'll bring you into the OR to remove the bullet and reset your leg so it can heal normally. Any questions?"

"Um, is-is Bruce here?" Dick asked, trying to stop the shivering he hadn't realized he had been doing.

"I'll go find out for you." Dr. Peterson promised, smiling warmly at Dick before leaving.

Dick wasn't very clear on the details after that, but at some point, he found himself in a hospital gown surrounded by medical personnel and counting backwards from ten.

.oOo.

Saying Q was livid was an understatement. She had been captured by her supposed colleagues. They had betrayed her—lied to her. They had treated her like a partner, but as soon as Grayson had been kidnapped, they started treating her like a tool. Looking back on it, maybe she had been a tool to them all along.

She heard someone walking towards her. They removed the blindfold, and Q was forced to squint until her eyes adjusted to the bright light. She looked around to find herself in some kind of warehouse, and not an abandoned one. This one had isles filled with boxes, a few forklifts, and her captors: Cheshire and Sportsmaster. Sportsmaster was carrying something familiar, and when she got a closer look at it, her heartbeat started beating faster.

"Is that my brainwashing serum?" Q breathed in horror. "The Light said those files were corrupted—destroyed." and there was no way they would've been able to get the files fixed and create something so fast.

"They did, didn't they?" Sportsmaster agreed. "But, as you know, the Light has their ways. Besides, from what I hear, this stuff actually works."

"From what I hear, only temporarily." Q said, calmly. She never finished the experiment, so it was only temporary at this point. Then again, Q had no idea how long the Light had had it in their possession or who was working on it.

"This is an updated variety, and you get to be the test subject." Sportsmaster might've been wearing a mask, but Q could tell he was smirking underneath it.

"Let's just get this over with, shall we?" Cheshire spoke up, snatching the syringe and walking over to Q, who had no time to react before it was being stabbed into her neck.

Q felt dizzy and confused before the syringe even left her neck. She felt something being placed on top of her head that covered her ears before audio started to play: "My name is Melissa Farrell. The League of Shadows hired me for my research on mind control serum. I captured Richard Grayson out of revenge for what Wayne did to my career and then to use the boy to get to Robin. Getting Robin for the League was my final test before I could officially join them."

And it repeated over and over again until Melissa accepted these statements as true and all memory of the Light had been forgotten.

.oOo.

"Any news on Master Richard?" Alfred asked when he returned, handing Bruce a cup of coffee.

"No, not yet," Bruce replied. Dick had been in surgery for approximately three hours and thirty-seven minutes, and if the surgeon's estimation was correct, he would be in surgery for about another hour. Someone had come out about two hours ago to tell them the bullet had been removed and they were currently working on repairing Dick's fibula, but no word since. Bruce tried to tell himself that was a good thing and meant no serious complications had come up. Still, not having an update was a little nerve-wracking.

Alfred offered some words of comfort to Bruce, but Bruce just nodded absently before going back to staring at the clock, letting his untouched coffee go cold. He stared at that clock for another hour and thirty-two minutes before someone came out to talk to him.

"Mr. Wayne?" A doctor walked over to them, a serious expression on his face. "I'm Dr. Peterson; the head surgeon on your son's case. Richard's out of surgery, but before you can see him, I need to go over his current condition with you."

Bruce gulped. This couldn't be good.

* * *

**How was it, better than the last chapter? Did you like how Dick and Wally escaped, or was it missing something? And how about that last scene with Q, what did you think about that? Batman still has some work to do, but first he has to find out what's wrong with his boy. Speaking of, any guesses to what's wrong? Any other thoughts or suggestions? Let me know, and thanks for reading :)**

**Special thanks to: ****GhostWriter7737, ****cutie0612, ****smorg98,** **africaflower77,** **ligtwood,** **Kikkiyoshi-Star,** **Mirnava,** **robinartemiselfhood,** **Penguinlover28,** **OnceUponASunsetDream,** ** ,** **Adrianna Agray,** **Omega Masterchief,** **shattered rainbow,** **Kichona Cho, ****skyechild,** **JellOtaku,** **Marmar218,** **GracefulRobin,** **Kira ReShea,** **Villains-have-horrible-aim, Nalash Polal Falayt, AlyssPotter, girlgeekjf, IndiaMoore, Christine (Guest), and Alexandria-likethecityinEgypt for the follows, favorites, and reviews! I really appreciate them :)**

**Replies:**

**Christine (Guest): Yay, I'm glad it came across okay! Thanks so much for the review, I really appreciate it :)**

**Penguinlover28 (Guest): Yeah, I probably could've made it better and fixed up the parts I didn't like instead of just taking them out. I was just so sick of it and wanted to publish it so I could move on to the next chapter, you know? Hopefully this chapters better. I'm glad you liked that part (it was one of the parts that used to be longer), and yup, Q is in trouble, and daddy!bats hadn't even gotten to her yet. Thanks for the review!**

**Until next time**

**-TheImaginativeFox **

**(Also we've passed 150 followers, thanks so much!)**


	13. Chapter 13

**So how have you guys been? I know, I know, it's been way too long. The good news is that I'm not dead and I have a new chapter. Just one more after this and then it's done!**

**Disclaimer: Nope, still own nothing.**

* * *

Bruce stood, "What's wrong?"

"He's stable for now," Dr. Peterson started. "Once we removed the bullet, we were able to reset Richard's fibula and insert plates and screws to help the bone heal correctly. Right now he's in a splint, but once the swelling goes down, we'll get him in a cast."

"So his leg will be fine?" Bruce interrupted.

Dr. Peterson nodded. "As long as no other complications come up and we continue to monitor it, his leg should heal normally. However, what I'm really concerned about is that the bullet wound was infected. We took a sample from the wound along with a full round of blood work, and it confirmed that it's sepsis."

Bruce paled and his stomach dropped, "Sepsis?"

Dr. Peters nodded solemnly and placed his hand on Bruce's shoulder, giving it a light squeeze before releasing it. "I'm waiting on some labs to help us find the best treatment plan, but until then we're giving Richard broad spectrum antibiotics and oxygen. The good news is that we found it quickly and he's stable."

Bruce's mind was racing. "How could an infection get this serious so quickly?" After all, Dick hadn't even been shot twenty hours ago, and he had been receiving treatment much sooner than that.

"It's a little unusual," Dr. Peterson admitted. "But he was sick when he came in, so that could have something to do with it."

"Sick?" Dick hadn't been sick the morning of the kidnapping, Bruce was sure of that.

Dr. Peterson tilted his head. "It seems to be just a cold, maybe the flu. Was he not sick yesterday?"

"No." Bruce shook his head. "No symptoms or anything out of the ordinary."

"Hmm," Dr. Peterson jotted it down.

Then, Bruce thought of a reason. "Could it be a result from the drugs the kidnappers gave him?"

"It's a possibility, I suppose." Dr. Peterson considered it. "But even if the drugs did have something to do with it, they're almost completely out of his system, and we don't suspect any long-term damage. I plan on running another tox screen soon to check on his progress, so that might give us a better idea."

"Do you know what they gave him?" Bruce asked, trying to hold back the Bat inside of him.

"Not exactly," Dr. Peterson replied a little nervously. "But like I said, we don't suspect any long-term damage."

Bruce made a mental note to ask Q about the drugs she gave Dick when Batman interrogated her later. "If there's nothing else, can we see Dick?"

"Of course," Dr. Peterson agreed in a calmer voice than before.

He motioned for Bruce and Alfred to follow him out of the waiting room. The three of took an elevator up to the pediatric unit on the third floor. As they made their way down the empty, quiet hallways, Bruce realized visiting hours must've already ended. How long had he been sitting in that waiting room?

"Here we go," Dr. Peterson announced, coming to a stop in front of room 307. "I'll be handing Richard's case over to Dr. Morgan, but I believe his shift already ended, so you probably won't see him until tomorrow morning."

"Thank you," Bruce said, and Dr. Peterson smiled and nodded before walking back the way they came. Bruce took a calming breath before pushing the door open and walking in, Alfred following closely behind him.

"Dickie," Bruce breathed the second he saw the boy. He made his way to the bed in just a few steps, immediately pulling Dick into a tight hug once he reached him.

"Bruce," Dick's voice reached Bruce's ears. Pulling back from the hug, Bruce brushed Dick's bangs out of his face. The boy's forehead was warm; a fever, Bruce acknowledged. Dick's face turned when he noticed Alfred and smiled at the older man.

Alfred reached out and gave Dick's hand a quick squeeze. "It's very good to see you, Master Richard."

"You too, Alfie," Dick replied, offering a small smile. He leaned back against the pillows only to be hit with a coughing fit that had him doubled over a few seconds later.

Bruce rubbed circles on the boy's back until the coughing calmed down and then helped him lean back. "How're you feeling, kiddo?"

"It's fine," Dick said, rubbing his chest for a moment to help the ache die down. "Mostly just tired."

Judging from the morphine drip, Bruce figured Dick's pain levels were manageable, but he also knew from looking at the boy that "tired" was an understatement.

"Why don't you get some rest?" Bruce suggested, running his hands through the boy's hair with one hand and grabbing the remote to recline the bed with the other.

Dick nodded, leaning into the touch and closing his eyes. "Are you staying here tonight?"

Batman needed to find Q, but until Dick was home and safe, it would have to wait.

"I'm not going anywhere, Dickie, I promise."

.oOo.

Bruce woke up to another one of Dick's coughing fits, a little surprised that sunlight was already streaming through the curtains. He rolled over to face Dick's bed, waiting for the coughing fit to pass just like the others had. Soon, the coughing was replaced with wheezing and Dick was trying to push himself up. Bruce was already making his way to Dick when the boy let out a pained whimper.

"Tell me where it hurts, Dick," Bruce said, turning on the bedside lamp and pushing a button on the side of the bed to put it in a more upright position.

"My chest," Dick answered, voice tight. "It hurts… to breathe."

"Is it better sitting up?" Bruce asked, eyes glancing at the screen next to the bed that was currently measuring Dick's vitals.

"A little," Dick said. "Ugh," Dick moaned, hunching over and wrapping his arms around his chest as the pain flared. "It really hurts, Bruce."

"I'm sorry, Baby." Bruce said and pressed the call button right above the bed. He slipped behind Dick and pulled him into his lap, hoping to make Dick feel more comfortable. "Try to breathe, Dick," Bruce reminded when he noticed the lack of wheezing in the room. He pressed the call button that was above the bed just as Dick was attacked by another round of coughing.

Dick was shivering violently when a nurse named Tammy joined them and started taking Dick's vitals, assuring them that the doctor would be in shortly and everything would be fine.

"I'm Dr. Morgan, I've been assigned to Richard's case." Dr. Morgan greeted, joining Nurse Tammy at the bed. "So what's going on?"

"He started wheezing after a coughing fit so I went to check on him," Bruce explained, voice unusually shaky. "He said his chest was hurting—especially when he breaths and coughs—so I pushed the call button."

"Was he wheezing at all before the coughing fit?" he asked.

"I wouldn't know; the coughing was what woke me up," Bruce admitted.

Dr. Morgan nodded and pulled out his stethoscope, placing it on Dick's chest before asking, "Richard, can you take a deep breath and then exhale?" Dick complied, tears building up from the pain it caused. Bruce squeezed Dick's hand reassuringly as Dr. Morgan repeated the question a few more times, moving the stethoscope to various places on Dick's chest and back. The doctor tapped on Dick's chest a few times before asking, "Your dad said your chest hurts?"

Dick nodded but didn't say anything.

"And what does it feel like?" Dr. Morgan pressed. "Tight? Sharp? Dull?"

"Sharp… and… tight," Dick grounded out.

"Is it constant or just when you take deep breaths and cough?" Dr. Morgan asked.

"Constant," Dick answered. "But that stuff… makes it… worse."

"How about your throat? Is it sore?" Dr. Morgan asked, checking the lymph nodes in Dick's neck.

"Sort of," Dick said, glancing over at Bruce. "Probably… from the… coughing."

"Open your mouth for me?" Dr. Morgan looked around with a small flashlight, just like Nurse Tammy had done when she first came in. After a few seconds, he put the light away and faced Bruce, "It sounds like there's fluid in his lung. I'm going to order a chest x-ray so we can get a better look."

.oOo.

Bruce hung up the phone, carefully putting back in his pocket so he wouldn't jostle Dick, who seemed to be half asleep against Bruce's shoulder. After the X-rays had been taken, Bruce decided it would be a good time to fill Alfred in on what was happening. The man had promised to get there as quickly as he could, but until then, Bruce's worried thoughts were his only company as he waited for Dr. Morgan to return.

Dr. Morgan knocked on the door as he walked in with the X-ray technician. "Okay, so it looks like Richard has pneumonia. There's some fluid in his lungs, which was most likely caused by the pneumonia, but because of the sepsis, I want to do a thoracentesis just to be sure. Draining the fluid will also help relieve the pressure and make it easier for Richard to breathe."

Bruce looked down at Dick who didn't seem to be listening to the conversation. Dick's ability to focus seemed to gradually be going down, and something in the back of Bruce's mind was telling him that the recent dose of painkillers wasn't the only thing to blame. "When can we do the procedure?"

"Right now, actually. It doesn't take very long, and we just use a local anesthetic." Dr. Morgan explained, handing some papers to Bruce. "I just need you to sign this consent form."

Bruce read over the form and filled it out, handing it back to the doctor when he was done. Dr. Morgan skimmed over it before excusing himself to go get the equipment. He came back with a nurse and a tray with a huge needle on it.

"Richard, I need you to lean against this for me," Dr. Morgan explained, pulling what looked like a padded bedside table towards them.

Bruce stood up and helped Dick into the needed position, but soon Dick was trying to move to get a better look at what was going on behind him.

"Hey, just look at me," Bruce said, grabbing the boy's hands to gain his attention. "It'll be over quick."

"We're just going to slip your gown down so we have more space," the nurse explained calmly, pulling an ultrasound machine closer to the bed. "This gel might be little cold," she warned just before Dick gave a slight jump at the contact and turned his head.

"Stay still, Dick," Bruce reminded, placing his hand on the back of Dick's head and gently guiding it to relax against the pillow. He left his hand there, letting his fingers play with Dick's hair to try to keep him distracted.

"Now Dr. Morgan is going to numb the area; it might sting for a few seconds," she said, placing the ultrasound probe on Dick's back with one hand and holding Dick's shoulder down with her other one.

Dick hissed as the needle pierced his skin, doing his best to stay still.

"I know, I know," Bruce hushed.

"Dr. Morgan is about to insert the needle to drain the fluid," the nurse explained after the anesthetic had kicked in. She rolled the probe over Dick' back to look for the right spot to insert the needle and said, "It might sting for a bit just like before."

"Aaugh," Dick cried, tightening his grip on Bruce's hand and squeezing his eyes shut as the needle went in.

"It's alright, it's almost over," Bruce assured.

"He's about to start removing the fluid. You're going to feel some pressure and a pulling feeling," the nurse said. "If it starts to really hurt or you're having trouble breathing, let us know okay, sweety?"

"Bruuuce," Dick moaned at the discomfort as they started to drain the fluid.

"You're doing great, Dickie, just a little bit longer," Bruce promised, his chest getting a little tight as he watched helplessly. A few minutes later, the needle was out, and Dick was noticeably breathing easier.

"All finished." Dr. Morgan said, cleaning and bandaging the site before tying Dick's hospital gown back up. "I just want to do one more x-ray and then you can go back to your room and get some rest."

Bruce left Dick's side so they could take the X-rays, and once it was confirmed that nothing had gone wrong during the procedure, they were heading back to the hospital room where Alfred was waiting for them.

"Ah, Master Bruce," Alfred greeted. "How is Master Dick?"

"Sleeping right now," Bruce started, and then went on to explain everything that had happened after X-ray.

"What a most unfortunate way to start one's day," Alfred decided once Bruce had finished.

Bruce couldn't help but think about everything that could've gone wrong. Everything that still could go wrong. "I'm worried about him, Alfred."

"As am I, Sir," Alfred admitted, adjusting Dick's blankets as the boy started to shiver again.

Bruce ran his hand over his face. "I just don't understand how this could've happened. I mean, Dick's healthy; a bullet wound shouldn't have done this to him."

"It was infected," Alfred reasoned. "His body happened to have a severe reaction to it."

Bruce sighed. "But from what the paramedics said—from what Wally said—the wound wasn't left unattended: it had been bandaged at the very least. I know the situation wasn't sterile, and that Dick being sick increased his risk of infection, but something still seems off. Maybe if I had gone looking for him sooner, or—"

"Master Bruce, you can't blame yourself," Alfred said, putting his hand on Bruce's shoulder and giving it a squeeze. "Things like this just sometimes happen, and it isn't anyone's fault."

Except for Q's. Bruce's hands curled into fists.

"Perhaps you need to take a break; get some fresh air and clear your head," Alfred suggested.

Bruce and Alfred both turned their heads as someone called from the doorway, "Mr. Wayne?"

"Commissioner Gordon," Bruce greeted, standing up and walking towards the door.

"Am I interrupting something?" he asked.

"No, we were just talking." Bruce assured. "Dick's sleeping right now; could we talk outside?"

"Of course," Gordon agreed, and the two of them walked out into the hallway, closing the door behind them.

"I came by to get Dick's statement, but I can come back later when he's more up to it." Commissioner Gordon offered.

"I don't think Dick will be up to give a statement for a while," Bruce said, and Gordon tilted his head questioningly. "He's… he's not doing well."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Commissioner Gordon said. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Nothing to do but wait it out and trust the doctors." Bruce said, not really wanting to go into it. "Have you found anything on the kidnappers?"

"Last night we found the two guys who grabbed Dick," Gordon said. "And we found Q early this morning near a warehouse she was hiding out in."

"What about the drugs they gave Dick?" Bruce asked, something between hope and desperation slipping through his voice.

"We searched the place, but no luck. We also searched the place where she was keeping Dick, but there was a lot of damage from the fire, and what we did find didn't give us much to go off of." Gordon admitted. "Right now I have a few teams looking into some other possible hideouts."

Q was in custody. She had the answers, and Batman sure as hell would get her to talk. He could fix this!

"We're still in the interrogation process, but she'll crack soon enough." Gordon assured when Bruce didn't respond. "We're trying, Bruce, and you and the doctors will be the first to hear when we find something."

Bruce nodded, "Thank you, Gordon. Knowing you're still involved with the case is reassuring."

Gordon excused himself and Bruce walked in the direction as if he were going back to Dick's room. He turned in the other direction and made his way towards the stairs. Pulling out his phone, he sent a quick message to Alfred that he was stepping out for some fresh air.

.oOo.

Batman walked briskly down the hall to the interrogation room Q was currently in. The guards hadn't been surprised to see him and told him where Q was without any hesitation; after all of these years they were probably used to it.

When Batman got to the interrogation room, two guards were standing outside. Having already been notified, they opened the door and let Batman in without saying a word. Q, now more obviously Melisa Farrell, was sitting on a chair, handcuffed to the table in front of her.

"Batman, you look surprisingly well considering the last time we talked," she greeted warmly as if he was an old friend. "How's Robin? From what the news says, he's quite the little hero."

Batman ignored her, choosing to get straight to the point, he demanded the answer to his first question. "Tell me what you gave to Richard Grayson."

"What? And I'm supposed to just tell you that after you asked so nicely?" Q scoffed, crossing her arms and smirking up at the Bat.

Batman let out a deep growl and curled his hands into fists, his knuckles making a very audible crack from the pressure. He slowly walked closer to Q, her eyes going wide, the smirk vanishing as if it was never there in the first place.

Batman grabbed the front of her orange jumpsuit, pulling her closer to him. "I wasn't asking."

.

.

.

Ten minutes later, Batman was letting the door slam shut behind him, surprising the two guards who had no doubt been listening to the interrogation. Once he was out of the prison, he jumped in the Batmobile and sped away, having the car dial Gordon as he left.

"Batman?"

"I spoke with Q," Batman started. "The poison she gave to Richard Grayson had the possibility of lowering immunity. Considering his age and the pain inducer she gave him with, it's very likely that it hit him harder than Q anticipated. Linda Schultz, the school nurse who works at Gotham Academy, was also infected with it. You'll need to contact her along with Richard's doctors so they can monitor them for this as an antidote is prepared."

"We'll need a sample of the poison to do that." Gordon said, shuffling around his desk.

"There was a buyer involved, and the other two men working with Q are currently delivering both the pain inducer and the poison." Batman explained. "Can you spare a squad to take down the truck?"

"I'll send one right now." Gordon said. "Do you have any information on the buyer?"

"Q claimed it was an anonymous buyer." Batman said. He didn't have time to go over the entirety of the interrogation. He needed to get back to Dick. "I recorded the interrogation; I'll send it to you along with the truck's drop off point."

Batman hung up before Gordon could say anything else and sent him the needed files. Putting the car on autopilot, Batman moved to the back and changed into civvies. Checking his phone, he saw he had a missed message from Alfred. Several, in fact. All telling him he needed to get back to the hospital now.

.oOo.

Bruce practically ran back to Dick's room, flashing his visitors badge at one of the nurses sitting at the nurse's station, but not bothering to stop to sign in. There was no time. He needed to see his son.

Bruce turned the corner, and soon he was pushing Dick's door open: the room was empty.

"What?" Bruce gasped, shock and worry filling him.

The sheets had been taken off of the bed, and all of their things had been removed. There was a lump in his throat and his heart felt like it was going to jump out of his chest.

Where was Dick?

* * *

**Phew, that's finally finished. I know it could probably be better, but I really just needed to post it or else I'm not sure when it would've been done. Anyway, did you like it? Did you have a favorite moment or line? How was the interrogation scene? Hopefully not to bad. Not sure when you should expect the next chapter, but probably sooner than last time. Thanks so much for reading, and don't forget to leave a review, I love hearing from you guys :)**

**Special thanks to: Savy160, Penguinlover28, TheRFL, Guest of honor, Nalash Polal Falayt, IndiaMoore, tishseven, Cutie0612, Knux27, girlgeekjf, Dragonfan47, Hamato Sakura, AlyssPotter, emilie. fiil. thomsen, Maya Potter Jackson, TheGallopingCupcake, Purplemusicstar13, one piece girl 99999, Do The Cool Whip, 13krirla, LishaBaggins, robinartemiselfhood, snowflake00,** **XxNightjar, Multifangirl6, Lovepeaceandwar, ****Batman91939, Guest, skyywardsongx, your, Yabbit, ba182675, cyzin, Luxen T, flaming wings, DarkRed101,** **Nintai-Kitai, and wolfkat24 for the favorites, follows, and reviews, it really means a lot!**

**Replies:**

**Guest of honor: Good guess, and I did think about doing something like that, but I thought this would be cooler. Thanks for the review, and I hope you liked the chapter!**

**Guest: Thanks for pointing out that typo, it should be fixed now :)**

**your: Thank you!**

**cyzin: Wow, thank you so much for the encouraging and detailed review, it really made my day! Good guess, and you were right for the most part. I had originally planned to have the sepsis set in at the beginning of the chapter to go with the suspense of the previous one, but when I was doing more medical research, I realized it didn't fit the timeline. Hopefully it was still okay, though. Thanks again, and I hope you liked the chapter :)**

**Until next time**

**-TheImaginativeFox **

**(Reviews anyone?)**


	14. Chapter 14

**And here we are, the last chapter to Ransom! This story's been pretty weird as far as chapter updates go, but the torture is finally over. Thanks for sticking around, and especially to those of you who have left all of those lovely reviews :)**

* * *

"Mr. Wayne?" the nurse who had tried to flag him at the desk was tapping on his shoulder.

"What?" Bruce snapped in his panic.

Not even reacting to the too harsh tone, she calmly said, "We've been trying to get a hold of you. Richard was moved to the ICU; Dr. Morgan is with him right now."

.oOo.

Bruce had been taken to the waiting room… well, he wasn't exactly sure how long it had been, but it felt like an eternity. Alfred had been waiting there, angrily asking where the bloody hell Bruce had been and why he hadn't answered his bloody phone. Bruce's excuse hadn't gone over as well as it could've, but when he shared the information from Q about Dick, the older man had been a little more forgiving. Forgiving enough to pause his lecture and fill Bruce in on what he knew of Dick's current condition.

Dick had been given a breathing treatment and another antibiotic to work specifically against the pneumonia. He was responding relatively well to the treatments as he slept, but then his blood pressure dropped extremely low and he was having difficulty breathing despite the oxygen mask. After that, everything happened in a rush.

Dr. Morgan ran in with several other medical personal, all talking so fast Alfred couldn't keep up. Dick had been unresponsive and the monitors were still going crazy when they wheeled him off and directed Alfred to the waiting room. He had been there ever since waiting for word on Dick.

Alfred didn't even have to tell Bruce what had caused the reaction, it was obvious enough: his boy had gone into shock. All while Batman was too busy interrogating a petty criminal. And if Dick didn't pull through, the information he had gotten out of Q was useless.

"Mr. Wayne?"

"How is he?" Bruce asked, standing as soon as he heard the doctor's voice.

"Critical but stable." Dr. Morgan started. "The sepsis was impairing blood flow to Richard's organs and he wasn't able to get enough oxygen. We had to give him a blood transfusion and administer a few other medications to help combat the complications caused by the sepsis. It was touch and go for a while, but we were able to get a handle on the problem. However, his lungs are very weak and we had to put him on a ventilator. He'll have to stay in the ICU for a few days."

Bruce paled at the images placed in his head by the doctor's words. "I-I need to see him."

"As soon as you understand the rest of his current condition I'll take you to him." Dr. Morgan assured.

"I know his current condition." Bruce ground out.

Alfred placed his hand on Bruce's arm and addressed the doctor, "Please, continue."

"The police were able to find the drugs that Q, or Melisa Farrell, gave to Dick. The pain inducer was fast acting and has left Dick's system without any damage. The poison given prior to that, however, worked by weakening Dick's immune system." Dr. Morgan explained. "Its effects lasted longer, so when Dick was exposed to germs via the bullet wound, it caused the extreme immune response: sepsis."

"Is that what caused the pneumonia, too?" Bruce asked.

Dr. Morgan nodded. "And because of Dick's condition, we can't afford to wait for the poison to work out of his system on its own."

"And how long will it take to make an antidote?" Bruce asked.

"I don't really have a time frame at the moment, but Commissioner Gordon assured me that it's their top priority." Dr. Morgan answered.

Part of Bruce wanted to go grab a sample of the poison and make his own, but the other part knew that Gordon's guys could handle it. Besides, he was needed here and he wasn't sure if he could bring himself to leave Dick again. "Is there anything else I need to know now?"

"I'll tell you something as soon as I know more." Dr. Morgan promised, and soon they were walking towards the ICU ward.

Dick was immunocompromised, so they had to take isolation precautions. Dick had his own room and everyone who entered had to wear a gown, gloves, and a mask. Alfred and Bruce were silent as they helped each other tie up the long-sleeved, light blue gowns over their clothes. Gloves and masks already in place, they looked at each in a reassuring way before nodding and finally pushing the door open.

Dr. Morgan went in with them, letting them sit down in chairs on the left side of Dick's bed, the ventilator and monitors taking up the right. He explained that a nurse would come by to check on Dick every so often and checked on Dick's vitals before excusing himself and leaving the two men alone.

Bruce leaned forward to rest his elbows on the bed, taking Dick's small hand in his and giving it a squeeze. "You're going to be okay, Dickie, I promise."

Bruce stayed like that for hours, only moving when the doctors and/or nurses came in to check Dick over, answering questions as needed. Alfred would occasionally talk to Dick in soothing tones, but Bruce's mind was too preoccupied with the poison to focus on what was being said or keep conversation with the older man.

His mind drifted to Linda Shultz—the nurse who had also been infected with the same poison as Dick. Right now she was suffering from what she thought was the flu, but after being alerted that it could be something more, she agreed to come to the hospital. Worried about germ exposure, the doctors sent her to a preventative isolation unit as soon as she had arrived and took blood. When the tests came back, they showed a comprised immune system and traces of the poison. Now she was being given preventive antibiotics and fluids as they eagerly waited for the cure.

It was still unknown how long it would take for the compromise immune system to wear off without treatment, but they did know it would wear off, the only question was if Dick would last that long. Ms. Shultz would probably be fine as long as she didn't contract anything, which she wouldn't have to worry about as long as she stayed in isolation. For Dick, however, it was only a matter of hours before the sepsis would gain the upper hand again, and deep down Bruce knew Dick's body wouldn't be able to handle it.

At some point, Dr. Morgan came in to check on Dick. He checked vitals and made a few notes, telling the two men there had been no change and promising them it wouldn't be much longer until they had the antidote before leaving.

And Bruce might've believed him if it hadn't been the third time he had been told that.

Taking Dick's hand in his once more, he let out a sigh. It was crazy that even though he had gotten Dick back from Q, it was as if she still had him.

.oOo.

One week later had Bruce sitting by Dick's bedside as the boy recalled all that he could from his kidnapping to Commissioner Gordon. Bruce had been leery about having Dick give his statement as he was still weak and tired easily, but they didn't have much of a choice considering how long they had already waited.

Dick had been in the IUC for a total of three days, but the first night had been the most terrifying for Bruce.

The antidote had been administered some time after midnight, but it didn't seem to do anything until late that morning. It was a gradual process, but the next day the doctors had announced that both Dick's and Linda's immune systems were functioning normally. Linda was sent home and Dick's vitals had improved enough to start being weaned off of the ventilator. There were a few bumps along the way, but things continued to improve and Dick was moved to a normal room.

A few days later the pneumonia had cleared up and the sepsis followed suit. Dick had started asking questions about Q—in jail, along with her four hired kidnappers—, the drugs—obtained, and Batman was currently working on finding out who exactly the anonymous buyer was and what they had wanted the drugs for—, and most of all, Wally as Robin. Bruce had answered Dick's questions, but with the security guard on the other side of the door, Dick hadn't received as much detail as he would've preferred. Although Dick wasn't happy about it, he understood and dropped the subject. But Bruce had no doubt that the boy would be demanding the case file as soon as he got home. Or as soon as they reached the parking lot.

"Thanks, Dick, I think that's everything." The Commissioner was saying. "Don't hesitate to call if you think of anything else."

Bruce stood and smiled, shaking Gordon's hand as he said his goodbye, "Good seeing you, Jim."

"You too, Bruce. Hopefully our next meeting will be under better circumstances," the older man smiled. "I hope you feel better soon, Dick."

"Thanks, Commissioner Gordon," Dick said as the Commissioner had closed the door behind him.

"You wanna get some sleep?" Bruce offered, knowing how tiring it was for Dick to have to concentrate that long.

"Nah, I'm not really that tired." Dick said.

Bruce eyed him suspiciously. The boy had been sleeping a lot recently. Bruce had been concerned about it at first, but Dr. Morgan assured them that it was normal and Dick would feel himself again in a few weeks. Bruce could accept that answer; after the week they've had, he could handle a tired, _recovering_ Dick.

"Dick, it's alright if you need to take a nap or just rest your eyes for a bit."

"I know," Dick said quickly and honestly. "And yeah, I am tired, but not like the sleepy-need-to-take-a-nap kind of tired, you know?"

"Just like you have no energy?" Dick nodded. "The doctor said it would be like that for a while."

Dick sighed, "I still get to go home tomorrow, though, right?"

"Dr. Morgan said if your tests are clear and you get through tonight with no red flags, you can go home." Bruce didn't want to promise Dick anything, even though he himself was almost certain they would be going home tomorrow morning.

"Good, I miss being home."

"I know you do, chum." Bruce empathized.

There was a knock on the door before Alfred's head popped in. "Hello, Sirs. Am I interrupting something?"

"No, just talking about getting to go home." Dick said.

"Ah, I see." Alfred nodded and entered the room, a small bag in his arms. "I believe you'll have to wait on that for just a bit longer, but I brought a few more items you requested to help pass the time."

"You're awesome Alfred," Dick said, perking up when Alfred handed him the bag.

"Master Bruce, Lucius called the manor, which is why I arrived later than I expected." Alfred started.

"Oh? Is everything alright?" Bruce asked, pulling out his cell phone to see a new email and a missed call from Lucius. "I turned my phone off when Commissioner Gordon showed up."

"I had assumed that was the case and explained that to Lucius. He hadn't realized that Dick was giving his statement today." Alfred said. "And from what I understand, everything is fine. He wanted to check in on Master Dick and was hoping you could take a look at the speech for tonight."

"Speech?" Dick asked. "For what?"

"We were supposed to go to a Wayne Enterprises dinner tonight, remember?" Bruce explained.

"Oh, yeah right. I forgot that was tonight." Dick said. "I guess being stuck in the hospital for one more night has some perks."

Bruce smiled, and although he hated that Dick was still in the hospital, he too was a bit grateful he was getting out of the dinner. Dick wouldn't have gone either way with his current condition, but if he had been home already, Alfred probably would've convinced him to go.

Bruce opened the email to see the speech. "I'll just send him a message and let him know I got the speech and call him when I'm finished."

"Very good, Sir." Alfred said as he sat down next to Dick and grabbed a small cardboard box out of the bag. "Now, Master Dick, do you feel up to a game of cards?"

.oOo.

_Four days later…_

"Dick?"

Dick groaned and pushed his face deeper into his pillow.

"Come on, Dickie, it's time to get up." Bruce shook Dick's shoulder gently.

"Five more minutes," Dick pleaded, voice muffled from the pillow.

"That's what you said an hour ago," Bruce chuckled. "Do you think you could at least sit up and take these pills for me?"

"…Fine," Dick rolled over and Bruce helped him sit up. He held out his hand to receive the two pills: one was an antibiotic and the other a painkiller. Dick popped both of them in his mouth, swallowing them with the water Bruce handed him. Dick gave the glass of water back to Bruce and relaxed against the pillows.

"Do you want me to cancel Wally's visit?" Bruce offered. "We can reschedule it when you're feeling a little better and have more energy."

Dick shook his head, "It'll be fine." Bruce hadn't let Wally visit at the hospital and Dick was starting to miss the red head. Though he hated to admit it, Dick hadn't been up to having visitors. In fact, he didn't even really remember most of his hospital stay.

"If you're sure," Bruce said. "Are you hungry? Alfred saved some waffle batter for you."

"That's okay," Dick said and shook his head. "I'll just eat when Wally gets here."

Bruce frowned. "No appetite today?"

Dick shrugged. "I'll eat later. Besides, I want to take a shower."

Bruce considered him for a moment before getting off of the bed. "Alright. Do you need any help?"

"I got it," Dick assured, sliding his legs off of the bed and reaching for his crutches. Bruce followed him out of the room, only stopping when Dick had successfully reached the bathroom.

Wrapping his leg in a shower cast, Dick slowly eased himself in, using both the wall and shower chair Bruce had put in to keep himself upright. Once he was in, he propped his leg up on the chair and adjusted the water, showering as fast as his sluggish body would allow.

Dick turned the water off, trying his best to ignore how exhausted he was. Carefully, he stepped out onto the dry ground, holding on tightly to the sink until he found his balance. Once he was dried off and dressed, he grabbed his crutches and made his way to the door, pausing when he heard scurrying from the other side.

Dick rolled his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. Honestly, he falls in the shower _one time_ and suddenly Bruce goes into overprotective-dad-mode.

Arriving at the stairs, Dick ever so glamorously made his way down on his butt. It was currently the fastest, safest, and easiest way to get down without needing to be carried. Getting to the bottom, he found his balance on his crutches and headed off for the den, which had already been fully set up by Alfred.

He had just settled in on the couch and gotten his foot propped up when he heard Alfred greeting Wally at the door.

"Hey, Dick," Wally grinned, dropping his backpack on the floor and greeting Dick with a fist bump before plopping down next to him. "I've missed you, dude."

"Good seeing you, Walls," Dick grinned back as Wally grabbed the pretzels.

"How's the leg?" Wally asked, staring briefly at the blue cast.

"Eh, it's okay. I get to put weight on it a few weeks."

"So does that mean Bruce will let you go to the Mountain soon?" Wally asked. "Everyone's wondering where you are and your excuse that you're busy with "civvie stuff" won't hold them off forever. If you don't show up soon they're going to think you're dead."

"Hey, technically, that's not a lie, and it's not like I stopped texting them and stuff," Dick defended. "And yeah, I can go to the mountain as soon as I lose the crutches. I'll be in a boot for a while after that I think, but Alfie and Leslie came up with one a while back that matches my Robin ones, so I can wear that at the cave."

"Wow. That must be weird to have to hide a civvie related injury from your superhero friends instead of a Robin related injury from your civvie friends." Wally mused.

Dick laughed, "You have no idea."

"And you're sure you can't just tell them you broke your leg doing something Robin related?" Wally asked. "They probably won't even ask for details once they know you're okay."

Dick shrugged. "I know, but the break was released on the news and stuff so Bruce wants to be cautious."

"Have you ever hidden injuries like that from me?"

"Probably. Nothing major, though, promise."

"Bats." Wally muttered as he shook his head, causing a smirk to cross Dick's lips. "So before I kick your ass at some video games," Wally reached over and grabbed the backpack and dropped it in Dick's lap, "I believe that belongs to you. Probably still too big, though," Wally chuckled.

Dick zipped it open to find the Robin suit Wally had used. Digging around for a bit he found the domino mask and threw it at Wally who caught it with practiced ease. Confused, Wally tilted his head and stared at Dick.

"Keep it," Dick smiled. "Souvenir."

* * *

**Special thanks to: Aprotny, Adrianna Agray, cutie0612, girlgeekjf, Nalash Polal Falayt, Guest of honor, EdwardElric3oct10, Alexandria-likethecityinEgypt, skyywardsongx, Sapphire363, Savy160, magicbeard, maxfan28535, chelanfish1, BlueBird131762, GeekyKiki, ****Ilovebatman15, akashadowcat, Phoenix0192, Pottergirl3333, White Weasel, Vi-Violence, joyusbabs, RedRose0123, tragedy in a letter, satanicF, cantorahagedoorn, kaplunk, Kairiitalianheart, Chromatic Love, Guesst, guidiani, Guest, HisakawaKasumi, Butterfly Crown, cyzin,** **phoenixwitch81, chewyring,** **Princess Serena til Universo, Asia the Jester, 300PASTA, and Mellysheps01 for the follows, favorites, and reviews!**

**Replies:**

**Guest of honor: This was from chapter 11, but from the context, I'm guessing it was referring to the previous chapter. Just to clarify, Robin was taken to the ICU, not into surgery. Thanks for the reviews throughout the story, I loved reading them, and I hope you liked the ending :)**

**skyywardsongx: Wow, thanks so much! I'm glad you liked the chapter, and hopefully the wait for the conclusion wasn't too torturous ;)**

**Guesst: Thanks for the review, I hope you liked the chapter!**

**Guest: I'm glad you liked it, thanks for the review!**

**cyzin: Thanks so much for the review, especially your comment on the interrogation scene, I really appreciate the input :)**

**So what did you guys think? Was it too repetitive? I can't tell since I've been working on this chapter forever. I hope the ending wasn't too cheesy or anything and that all of your questions were answered. Right now ****I have a bunch of multi-chapter stories in the works, but I have no clue when they'll be posted. I have some one-shots planned too, and you'll be seeing some of those rolling out soonish. Thanks again, you've all been amazing :)**

**-TheImaginativeFox**


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